


Lost It To Trying

by MaryLikesRoses



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Betrayal, Gen, Kylo Ren Redemption, Mind Control, No Smut, Search and Rescue, very little fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7006987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryLikesRoses/pseuds/MaryLikesRoses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the destruction of the Starkiller base, the Resistance is even more desperate to bring back Kylo as a blow to the First Order. Rey is haunted by one particular flashback of her and Kylo, and she hopes that this mission will help her understand it. Will Rey survive on her lone mission to find Kylo? Or is it just a suicide mission?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Not Over

A sonic crack of thunder roared from one ear to another. Rey struggled to stand, her boots now sinking into the wet mud. She couldn't run easily in the darkness of the night, considering the hundreds of dead bodies surrounding her.

 

She stood in terror as she saw Kylo Ren, who she now knows is Ben Solo. No one calls him that anymore because he isn't Ben. He's Kylo Ren, the ruthless murderer of hundreds of thousands, a strong leader out of the handful of leaders in the First Order.

 

He had a group of men behind him, almost as if they were in a gang. They didn't want to rob her. They wanted to kill her. 

 

Kylo stormed towards her, not bothered by the sticky mud. She heard the familiar buzz of a light saber and saw the blinding opalescent glow.

 

Another crack of thunder snapped her out of it.

 

She woke up in a bed after realizing she let out a loud blood-curdling shriek. She covered her mouth, not wanting any attention brought to the matter.

 

"This has been the third time I've had that flashback, ever since I touched Master Luke's saber," she thought silently.

 

Finn burst into the room, shoulder first. Rey shrieked again from being startled.

 

Finn was panting, making it obvious that he darted to her room as fast as humanly possible. She could barely see his figure until he turned on the light, revealing his face full of worry.

 

"What are you doing in my room?" Rey raised her voice in annoyance.

 

"Are you alright?" Finn questioned, ignoring her first question.

 

"Yes! Now leave!" She demanded, grabbing her blanket and curling up in bed.

 

Finn was about to say something else, but he decided against it, not wanting Rey to yell at him even more.

 

Once Rey heard the door shut, she let out a heavy breath of air, trying to put the puzzle pieces of her dream together. She feared that it was of the future to come, but she wasn't sure. Although she did predict the fight between her and Kylo in the forest on the Starkiller base. She remembered it all too well.

 

The brisk winter air was hitting her rosy cheeks, the awkward sweat dripping from her brow, and the blistering heat she felt as her and Kylo's sabers were against each other, the sparks flying out and about spontaneously.

 

She hadn't been that close to Kylo, ever. She was shocked by how deep and bassy his voice actually was. She could also hear the desperation in his voice. "I can show you the ways of the force!" He shouted over the racket of the two sabers screeching like wounded animals

 

Kylo knew she was the key to Luke, which Rey believed that was the only reason Kylo suggested the idea of him training her, even though he himself is still in training.

 

She remembered her heavy breathing slowing down, closing her eyes to think. It didn't take too long, at least to her. She resisted the temptation into the dark side and fought back.

 

She was proud of resisting the darkness, and Kylo's scheme. She stepped outside of her comfort zone, and met amazing people such as Poe, Finn, Leia, BB-8, and so many others. Although they were great, none of them could make up for Han Solo.

 

She felt a deep connection with him, through the brick wall of his smart ass attitude and sarcasm. Even though she had only known him for half a day, he taught her new things about her undying interest in ships and held the torch to guide her to where she is now.

 

She wondered what Kylo meant by "He will disappoint you."

 

She couldn't let go of the memory that haunted her every night since Han was murdered by Kylo. She could vividly remember as he stiffly fell off the dangerous bridge, down to what looked like a never ending hole. She remembered how Kylo showed no sign of remorse or regret, but walked away from it instead.

 

Then the immediate gun fire from Chewbacca echoed in her ear, louder than her shriek that caused Kylo to notice.

 

Rey stopped letting her mind wander as she normally did, and decided that she needed sleep.

 

She rolled over, closed her eyes, and started breathing slow, counting droids.

 

* * *

It was daybreak, and the light shone through the dark curtains in the small room. She familiarized herself with where she was. She sat up and looked around the room. There was a closet, a small night table beside her, an oak built bed, and a turquoise rug on the hardwood floor. That's right. She was in General Leia's home.

 

She kicked her feet off the bed, touching the freezing floor. She changed out of her night outfit and into her usual pair of clothes that Leia was nice enough to wash for her the previous day. 

 

Rey and Leia were close after Han died, which was only a week ago. Leia spoke fondly about how her, Han, and Luke made the perfect trio. Finn, Poe, and Rey reminded the old woman of the vintage trio.

 

Rey stepped outside of her room, letting the aroma of a full meal dance around her nose, guiding her to the kitchen. She saw Poe, Finn, and Leia sitting down at a table, eating quietly. The only reason they were quiet was because they were eating.

 

Rey wasn't accustomed to this atmosphere. She had only come to Leia's house yesterday afternoon. The past week everyone was incredibly busy, and Rey and Finn ended up sleeping wherever they could and ate whatever was offered to them. This was incredibly generous, almost like a traditional meal to Rey and Finn. As for Leia and Poe, this was a typical day.

 

"This smells absolutely delicious!" Rey marveled, sitting down to a plate that was already made for her.

 

"Thank you," Leia gave a kind smile, appreciating the idea that everyone enjoyed the food. Han had always teased her about how her roast would be too dry and such. She missed their bickering.

 

Rey scarfed down the meal, not paying any mind to who was looking at her. All those years of being alone, Rey didn't learn table manners. She picked apart her food with her feeble fingers, throwing it into her mouth.

 

The rest of the group decided to not address the issue, yet.

 

"I've never seen you with your hair down before," Finn piped up, noticing Rey's messy oak-colored hair hanging down past her shoulders.

 

Rey ignored the statement for a brief moment, chugging the milk in front of her. She set it down and let out a relieved sigh, looking around the table. 

 

"Is this a weird thing?" Rey questioned Finn.

 

"N-no! I just always see it in those three little buns you always wear. That's all," Finn gave a panicked response.

 

Poe decided to join in on the conversation. "Listen, Rey, you look good either way," he complimented.

 

Rey grinned. "I know. I just like scaring Finn."

 

The table laughed with each other. Everyone wanted to hang onto moments like these, knowing it will become more downhill from here on out with this new mission.

 

Once the conversation died down, and everyone packed up and got ready to leave for a meeting in two hours at the Resistance base.

 

They were all at the door, about to leave.

 

"Thank you for your kind hospitality, general," Poe took Leia's hand with a friendly smile.

 

"Please. Call me Leia outside of the base," she returned the smile, before looking at all of them. "You kids go ahead. I have some matters to attend to before the meeting."

 

The group gave Leia hugs before leaving her humble abode.

 

Poe flew Finn and Rey to the base. Rey sat down on the floor, back against the wall as she used the force on random rocks on the ground. Luke wanted her to start off with little things like rocks and garbage she would find; maybe even items on a table. It was somewhat hard to be discreet about it when several people are running around like busy bees in a hive.

 

She heard a happy tune of beeps come towards her. She glanced up to see BB-8 roll over to her, nudging her to get up.

 

She dropped the rocks she held. "Did the meeting start?" She asked frantically.

 

The droid nodded, before rolling in the direction she needed to go. They both ran to the room, just in time. Rey stood near some strangers while Finn and Poe were also scattered from each other. Everyone paid attention to what Leia had to say.

 

"We need to talk about Kylo…"

 


	2. Discussions

All of the people in the room listened to Leia with the utmost respect.

 

Leia spoke sadly about Kylo. "We've had so many losses. Coruscant, Jakku, and several other planets," Leia painfully stated. "Now it's time we save at least someone. I blame myself for letting Kylo get this far, but we don't need Kylo. We need Ben."

 

That statement was so powerful to everyone in the room. They all nodded. Leia was a straight to the point woman and a boss, but very kind hearted and considerate of others. Everyone owed Leia in one way or another, and this was their chance.

 

"We need a plan to take Kylo from the First Order and turn him back to Ben. It won't be an easy fight, but it will be a loss to the First Order," she slammed her fist into her palm.

 

Finn decided to pipe up. "The two main leaders before the Starkiller base was destroyed was Kylo Ren and General Hux. I've heard rumors that Kylo hadn't fully transitioned into being a complete Sith. This mission will only be much harder when Kylo completes his training, so we should strike now," Finn gave his two cents, give or take.

 

Leia gave a nod of approval, looking around the large table for reactions. Many agreed with the statement.

 

"We need to know where Kylo is first," Leia looked around the room for ideas.

 

"They're near the outer rim, heading for Dantooine," a familiar voice said.

 

Luke walked through the crowd, parting the Red Sea. He stood proudly next to Rey. Leia smiled at her brother, glad to hear his hoarse voice.

 

"It's nice to see you, brother," Leia gave a respectful half bow.

 

"You too, sister," Luke replied, doing the same gesture back to her.

 

"How do you know they're going there?" Rey spoke in a low voice to Luke.

 

"There was an echo in the force," Luke replied, before proceeding to the table, pointing at Dantooine on the hologram. "They don't want to be disturbed, so they're heading here where no one can bother them or find them."

 

"Maybe it's a trap," Poe suggested. "They're getting ready for a war."

 

People around them gasped, murmuring ideas and rumors. 

 

"No, no," Luke denied, calming everyone down. "They have already done a big move blowing up the Republic base. Now they're planning their next move. We have just enough time to plan ours," Luke explained to the room.

 

"Are you suggesting we go to Dantooine and attack?" Leia asked.

 

Luke shook his head, closing his eyes for a brief few moments. He took a deep breath, meditated, and then opened his eyes. "We have to be strategic. We need to go under their nose instead of blowing them away and risking it all."

 

Rey got one of those headaches again but started to remember another piece of the puzzle from those flashbacks. The temple of her head had a brief tremor before a ripple of pain surged through it. Her knees felt weak, so she grabbed onto the nearest thing she could, which was Luke's shoulder.

* * *

 

_ Rey was back in what felt like a hurricane. Everything had happened so quickly. She saw Kylo pull his saber out of a man, kicking him to the ground. She couldn't move, paralyzed in fear. Kylo retracted his saber, before walking towards her. _

 

_ "Rey?!" He called out, over the harsh raindrops slamming onto the ground. _

 

* * *

"Rey?!"

 

Rey opened her eyes with a quick gasp to find herself on the floor, everyone was looking at her. Luke was bent down, holding her head up from the ground. Finn was on her other side, holding her hand.

 

"Stop holding my hand," Rey pulled her hand away.

 

"Are you alright?" Finn asked in a panic.

 

"She's alright," Luke answered for Rey. "It's just the effects from my saber."

 

" _ He knows about this _ ?" Rey thought with mild ferocity.

 

Luke and Finn pulled her up, as Leia looked at Rey with concern.

 

"Do you need to have a seat, Rey?" Leia suggested.

 

Rey was confident she would be alright. Besides, she didn't like people pitying her. It made her feel underestimated.

 

"I'm fine. It's a normal thing. Low blood sugar probably," Rey awkwardly laughed.

 

Leia nodded, before continuing with their brainstorming session.

 

Rey felt Luke lean towards her and in her ear. "We'll speak about this after the discussion."

 

Rey was desperate for the meeting to be over. They all planned another meeting the next day to actually set up the plan and put people in positions.

 

Rey and Luke were able to sit in a nearby room in private.

 

The room was simple. It had a short couch for two, a plant on a small table beside it, and a television. It was somewhat like a break room and a lobby combined.

 

Rey couldn't find a way to explain how she felt. "I-I don't know. Ever since I touched your saber… when it called to me… I've just been getting flashbacks. Well, it may be a prediction too. A warning? What do you think?" 

 

Luke took a deep breath, observing Rey's "freaked out" expression. Her brows were furrowed, her mouth slightly open, trying to push the words out of her mouth. "I cannot answer that for you, for only time will tell." Luke began to stand from his seat next to Rey.

 

Rey understood that Luke was wise and all that, but she was not at all satisfied with that response. She felt terrified each time she had that one  particular flashback. 

 

"Can I at least get rid of it?!" She complained, standing up in protest.

 

Luke just shook his head. "Patience, padawan."

 

Rey stood, defeated as she watched Luke walk out of the room. She sat back down, putting her hands on her face. She took a deep breath, hoping to get a minute alone to herself.

 

Living on the lonely selfish planet of Jakku made Rey slightly reclusive and introverted. All of this attention from the Resistance exhausted her and frustrated her at the same time. 

 

She removed her hands from her face, knowing she had some things to do. Just as she was walking out of the room, she bumped into C3-PO.

 

"Oh! My dearest apologies!" The golden robot apologized. "General Leia wishes to have a moment with you if you don't mind."

 

"Of course. Can you tell me where she is?" Rey politely asked. C3-PO pointed to where she was, and Rey walked her way. Leia was alone, looking at the outer rim. She looked over to find Rey walking towards her.

 

Rey stood next to the general, not knowing whether to speak or stay silent just as Leia was. She stared at the outer rim with Leia, looking at Dantooine.

 

"I have a plan already in mind, but I didn't want to tell anyone yet because I need your approval," Leia calmly told Rey. 

 

Rey listened to what Leia had to propose.

 

"I need you to train with Luke as quickly as possible. You've already told me your experience with Kylo on the Star killer base. He wants to train you to the dark side. I need you to meet with him and go along with his plan. Let him teach you, but don't fall for his ways. I know this doesn't sound difficult, but my father succumbed to the dark side quite easily from what I heard. I don't wish to lose you too," Leia said.

 

"So master Luke will teach me and then…" Rey lead on, ending with a questionable tone.

 

"We will send you out in a small ship, just for you. We will have you wired and you can easily communicate us if you wish to update us or need assistance," Leia described to Rey.

 

"If Kylo catches on and tries to kill me again?" Rey questioned.

 

"Then you call us, or if we don't hear from you in twenty-four hours then we will send our best pilots to retrieve you."

 

Rey scoffed at the idea, her thin lips spreading into a smile. "You've really planned this out, haven't you?"

 

Leia broke her seriousness and looked down at her transparent hands with a slight grin. "I always think ahead. I really wish there was another plan, but we're desperate, Rey. We can't let something like what happened to the Republic occur again," Leia fretted over.

 

"I understand," Rey calmly nodded. "I can do it. Have you talked to Master Luke about it?" 

 

Leia nodded. "He said a week won't be enough to fully prepare you, but it will do. This is a courageous act you're doing," Leia took Rey's shoulder. 

 

After that important talk, Rey met up with Luke, who stood in front of his ship. 

 

"Are you ready to begin training?" Luke questioned.

 

Rey nodded, before getting into the ship with Luke. As they went by the stars and planets, she thought of any scenario that could happen. Rey was scared, but she knew this was just how it had to be. She didn't know if that vision was her death, or something more. It could've been a warning that she completely looked over.

 

" _ Well, it's too late now, _ " Rey thought.

  
  
  



	3. Suspend

A day went by, and Rey spent the night at Luke's home on the first Jedi temple on Ahch-To. They trained after the meeting yesterday, but now they had to go back to the Resistance base and reveal the plan to everyone.

 

Rey somewhat knew it was a suicide mission, but she felt responsible for Han Solo. In her mind, she thought it was somewhat stupid to feel responsible for Han, but she did. If she hadn't been foolish to run off in Takodana, away from Maz Kanata’s castle, Finn and Han wouldn't have had to save her. This was yet another thing she would think of before she went to bed.

 

Rey hadn't experienced much death in her life since she didn't have anyone close to her. She was a lone wolf, and had only heard of death. Now, she had been robbed by death.

 

Luke and Rey had arrived at the Resistance base and went straight into the room where the meeting had been previously held yesterday. Finn and Poe were able to pick a spot next to Rey and Luke since the room wasn't as crowded quite yet.

 

After about a few minutes, people began to flood into the room.

 

"I believe everyone is here," Leia spoke to herself.

 

Rey's stomach twisted and churned. She was worried at how everyone would react. She never liked pity, but sensed it to come in the near future.

 

Leia pulled up the map hologram on the table, zooming into Dantooine. "Now I've thought of this plan for a while, and realized that it needs to be absolutely perfect," Leia began.

 

Rey started to shake a little from anxiety, but felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked to her left, away from Finn and Poe, to see Luke give her a confident smile with kind eyes. This calmed Rey's heart rate down for a moment. She took deep breaths and looked back to Leia.

 

"Rey told me that Kylo offered to teach her. That means he trusts her for some reason. All of us have no idea why, but that's not the point," Leia explained, nodding over to Rey. Everyone stared, and Rey held her head high. 

 

Leia took a deep breath, not really wanting to tell the plan yet, knowing of the backlash that would soon come. Yet, she didn't want to keep her team in the dark.

 

"The plan is, Rey is going to Dantooine, alone. She's going to go in and act like she wants to be taught-"

 

"Are you serious?!" Finn exclaimed.

 

Poe took Finn's shoulder. "Buddy, let her speak-"

 

"No! You don't know them like I do. For all we know they can kill her on the spot and-"

 

"That is not going to happen," Leia strongly spoke. "Yes, this is dangerous. I can agree. Rey and I have talked about it and this was the only plan we came up with. We have backup plans in case something goes wrong there. If you have any other plans, feel free to tell me now."

 

Finn opened his mouth, about to protest. He couldn't think of a plan, so he remained silent in defeat.

 

"I am training her for a week, starting today. I believe in Rey. She is strong, but she can always be stronger. That is why I'm here to help," Luke gave his speech, looking over to Rey. They both gave a sharp nod and a confident grin to each other.

 

Finn worriedly looked over to Rey, and so did Poe. Even though Poe had just met Rey, he'd hate to see her die or be tortured like he was for those brief few minutes. If he couldn't take that, he couldn't imagine how Rey would be.

 

Rey stood forward, finally ready to speak for herself. "I believe that I can trick Kylo into coming here. It will be a low kick to the First Order. We need to hit them before they hit us."

 

Everyone murmured, making Rey and Leia feel anxious yet again.

 

"This is not a matter of discussion," Leia stated strongly. "If any of you have any other plans, feel free to speak to me and we can possibly work something out. Meeting adjourned.”

 

Finn immediately grabbed Rey by the shoulders.

 

"We can still leave. You and me, going from planet to planet," Finn pleaded. Finn cared for Rey so much, and he had a slight crush on her. He tried to ignore it, but it was nearly impossible. The thought of Rey never coming back made him afraid that he'd never be able to tell her how he feels. Even so, he believed that Rey had an idea of his emotions about them.

 

And that Rey does. Although the idea amused Rey, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Finn…" she softly apologized. "This is something I have to do. I won't get hurt. I swear."

 

That was possibly a lie, and Finn didn't buy it. Not one bit.

 

Poe walked up beside Finn, almost destroyed by the news. Finn, now growing frustrated, stormed off. Rey almost called out to him, but decided that she would give the idea time to sink in.

 

"It's a brave thing you're doing, kid," Poe patted Rey's shoulder roughly. "Nothing I've ever done."

 

"Me neither," Rey nervously laughed.

 

Leia approached both the pilot and the scavenger.

 

"Poe, I need you to get your crew ready by the end of the week. If things go sideways, it's up to you guys to go in there as a rescue mission," Leia described. "We will call this mission  _ Suspend _ ," Leia smiled to them. They all couldn't help but smile, thinking about having Kylo/Ben and having an easier time with the First Order.

 

They all split up, Poe going with his team, Rey going with Luke, and Leia sorting out the plan and putting people in position.

 

* * *

Rey trained for the next few days with Master Luke. Rey felt closer to the force, and understood more about it. It was almost like a retreat for her, except more disciplined. Luke was hard on her for that week, but she preferred it that way. She wanted to be whipped into shape and pushed to her limits. She was much more patient and able to make crucial decisions using as much time as she had in the world.

 

Leia had a hard time sleeping, worrying her little old self about how if Rey dies in some way, that blood would be on her hands. Normally, Leia didn't lose much sleep over her decisions. She nearly finished half a book in one night because she couldn't seem to close her eyes and drift away into her sweet slumber.

 

Finn was also losing sleep, intentionally. He was up longer than he should have been. Finn desperately tried to figure out a different plan, but all of them seemed to not work.

 

After a week, Rey was stuck inside a small changing room with women. One particular woman with glowing blue skin showed her a light piece of transparent fabric.

 

"See this?" She questioned. Rey nodded in response. "This will go right next to your ear. It acts like a camouflage, so no one should be able to see it or detect it. You will hear General Leia or someone speak on here."

 

The woman put the fabric right next to Rey's earlobe. She also took out a large syringe looking device.

 

"Woah woah woah! No way," Rey stepped back.

 

"Don't worry dear! It doesn't hurt! This is your mic. Also, if you aren't able to talk or if you lose your hearing device, you simply tap the back of your hand. However, if you don't tap or speak into it for 24 hours, we will come as a rescue mission. It is crucial that you remember," she said.

 

The woman put the device right onto Rey's backhand before pulling the trigger on it. Rey yelped, feeling the great wave of pain in her hand.

 

"You lied!" Rey retorted.

 

"We can't waste time with fear," the woman simply replied, before letting the other ladies to their jobs, preparing Rey for mission  _ Suspend _ .

 

The diverse women escorted Rey out of the small changing room and to the outdoors.

 

Several soldiers and pilots ran around the area, each of them having duties to fulfill.

 

She saw General Leia, Master Luke, Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, C3-PO, R2-D2, and BB-8 await her by the small ship with several other Resistance members surrounding them. All of this attention overwhelmed Rey, but she felt appreciated.

 

Rey walked a little bit slower, trying her best to take in the moment, for it may be her last.

 

Everything around her felt in slow motion, and she felt a sweep in her mind. She sensed Master Luke seeing her emotions and thoughts.

 

"You'll do great," he said.

 

"I hope so," Rey replied.

 

"Confidence is key, my padawan."

 

Once Rey had finally made it to the ship, she hugged every last one of her friends. She hugged Finn first. He leaned into her ear as she did.

 

"One more chance. We can make a break for it right now and hide away, together," he tried to bargain with her for one final time.

 

"It's too late to be reckless now," Rey kindly denied, looking at his face of sorrow. She felt guilty, so she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

 

She moved over to C3-PO.

 

"I can't believe you'll be gone for so long!" He cried dramatically, even though robots can't physically cry. "Send me postcards while you're away!"

 

"I will when I can," Rey teased, making C3-PO cry even more. R2-D2 beeped happily, liking her sarcasm. BB-8 agreed with R2-D2.

 

"Oh shut up you two! How can you leave me here with these two bullies!" C3-PO cried out to Rey, before waddling over to Rey for a hug.

 

Rey laughed, moving over to Leia and Luke.

 

"Make us proud. We'll be monitoring you the whole way," Leia told Rey with a smile. Deep inside, she didn't want to see Rey go. They both knew it had to be done.

 

"Remember what I had taught you, Rey," Luke confidently told her, giving a stern nod.

 

Rey turned to Poe, who gave her a rough manly hug. "You're a strong soldier, Rey. What you're doing is a good thing for all of us."

 

Rey took a step back, looking over everyone there as others gathered around the ship.

 

"I will miss you all on my journeys. Make sure you prepare a nice feast for when I come back," Rey smiled at everybody.

 

Rey stepped up and into the ship, turning it on and watching everyone step back. Once that baby started to fly, she waved at the people below. They all returned the favor, watching Rey fly away.

 

Rey watched as the stars went past her windshield. She put the ship on autopilot, knowing where she was headed. She sat there, scared, and depressed. She ended up crying in her seat, fearing the future to come and her possible death.

  
  



	4. Confrontation

Rey grew closer to Dantooine, feeling exposed. She had a gut feeling that they knew she was there, and she couldn't tell if it was her paranoia or the force.

 

Once she landed on some solid ground, she spoke into her hand, pressing down on a point so that they could hear her.

 

"Okay, I'm on Dantooine. Where do I go?" Rey asked, looking around the fairly green area with little trees.

 

"Explore a little while we figure that bit out," she heard Leia perfectly in her ear.

 

Rey did exactly as she was ordered to. She walked around with nothing but her new blue saber, a small satchel with a meal, and a few bottles of water in it. She touched some plants gently, feeling the smooth leaves touch her pale skin. 

 

Rey used to be a little bit tan from the sun, but now that she'd been sheltered more, her skin was growing ghostly. Thankfully, her skin was more like peaches and cream. Unlike Kylo's, which was just pale and unhealthy.

 

Rey walked for a few miles before seeing tracks. These tracks looked human. She reported the observation to her hand.

 

"Good. Now follow it," Leia ordered.

 

"Be cautious," she heard Luke say.

 

She scoped around as she followed the trail of footsteps in the dewy mud, making sure she wasn't being tailed. Dantooine was known for people hiding out there, from Rebels, Bandits, to the First Order. If they go to a whole other planet to hide, they're going to make sure they're hidden.

 

The track she was following led to tracks of many, which gave her a clue that she was incredibly close to the First Order. She reported it in, and Leia just told her to keep going.

 

Rey did as ordered.

 

She found a rotten garden, flowers, and bushes dead. There was a cracked stone bench in the center of it, as if the little garden once had life.

 

Sitting in the middle was Kylo Ren. His mask was on of course.

 

"I sensed you coming," was all he said, before turning his head slightly. 

 

Rey took a heavy swallow, stepping closer.

 

"That's close enough," he warned, forcing her to stop in her tracks.

 

She was frozen in place, struck with fear and the power of the force.

 

Kylo stood from the bench before walking along the cracked pavement, up to the skinny defenseless girl.

 

Kylo swiped his finger near Rey's ear, peeling off the camouflage piece. He tossed it to a nearby dead bush.

 

"I don't think you'll need that anymore," he spoke. Kylo was completely confident with each move he made, no matter what the outcome might be. That was what he believed led him to success. To Kylo it was a success. To Rey, it was rock bottom.

 

Kylo glanced around to make sure there weren't any stormtroopers around before he took off his mask. The mouthpiece of his mask moved towards Rey, making a steamy sound.

 

Kylo pulled off his mask, revealing his face.

 

"I wouldn't want you to be speaking with a creature in a mask now," he told her, almost mocking her words from a week ago.

 

Rey remained silent, not knowing what to do. She was already trapped and she felt like it was game over already. She wondered why she even agreed to do this. Was it worth throwing away her life? She was about to find out.

 

Kylo tried to sweep through her mind, but Rey pushed him right back out, like an unwanted guest.

 

Kylo cocked his head to the side in curiosity and frustration. He hated the fact that Rey was a challenge. She was like a puzzle without images on the pieces.

 

"What are you doing here? I am under the impression of you making a suicide attempt or a plan to bring me back to my mother," Kylo interrogated her.

 

"Neither," Rey lied. A trick Luke taught her was to believe her own lie, so Kylo wouldn't be able to tell.

 

Kylo narrowed his eyes at her, trying to read her. "What is it that you want then? To kill me?" 

 

"No. Not that either. If you let me go I can tell you. Your grip is… uncomfortable," Rey looked down at herself.

 

Kylo sighed, before making a hand movement. Rey found it strange that he believed her and let her loose. She could run if she wanted to. That would be foolish because he would stop her again anyways.

 

"If you recall, when we were on the Starkiller base and we fought, you offered to help me learn more about the force," Rey led on. She didn't know if Kylo knew that the Resistance had found Master Luke. She was hoping he didn't.

 

"I do recall my proposition, and then you gave me this wound," he pointed to the obvious wound on his face, going from his cheekbone to his brow. It was flaking, showing that it was healing properly and starting to scar over.

 

"To be fair, you hurt my friend at the time and I got… angry," Rey tried to make an excuse. 

 

Kylo observed everything about Rey. Her breathing patterns were sharp, her fingers were twitching, and she was changing her standing poses.

 

"I perhaps…" he reasoned with her a little. It slowly started to rain, and Rey was shivering already from her crippling fear and the cold temperatures.

 

"Let's take this inside. We don't need sickness in the First Order," Kylo said, before waving his hand in front of Rey's eyes, having her fall to the ground. He caught her by her arm before she could even touch the ground.

 

Kylo lifted her up and brought her inside.

 

* * *

Leia was frantically trying to reach Rey, speaking rapidly into the microphone.

 

"She's found Kylo," Luke simply told Leia.

 

"Oh no…" Leia fretted. "Oh no, no, no… This is all my fault…" she shook her head.

 

"I'm almost certain she'll be fine. I would've felt it," Luke assured his sister, placing his hand on her shoulder.

 

Finn was overhearing every last word between Leia and Luke. He came close at some moments to yell at both of them, but he knew that would be rash and unnecessary. Taking out his worries and aggression onto Leia and Luke wouldn't bring Rey back. Instead, he started drinking. It made him feel less tense about the whole thing.

 

* * *

 

Rey awoke in a room. This time, she wasn't chained down to a chair. Kylo was right beside her, mask still off. He wanted her to stare at what she had done to him.

 

"Hello," he welcomed her.

 

"Hi," she replied, looking around the room. It was mostly metal and white, and surprisingly incredibly spacious.

 

"There is a uniform in the closet right over there," he pointed to the closet near the foot of her bed. "If you attempt anything, you will be executed. I believe you already knew that," Kylo said to her calmly, before standing up. "I must speak to General Hux for a brief moment. Feel free to clean yourself up. Maybe take a shower…"

 

Rey's eyes widened, eyebrows raised.

 

"Did he just say that?" She thought, slightly offended.

 

Kylo put his mask over his head, revealing a mischievous grin. He had obviously heard that thought.

 

* * *

 

Kylo walked down the hallway, the satisfying dominating noise of metal with each footstep echoed down the hall, letting the storm troopers know to move out of the way.

 

Kylo walked into the commanding center to find Hux looking over a storm trooper, arms crossed.

 

Kylo didn't like Hux all that much, but ever since he'd finished his training with Snoke, Hux had warmed up to Kylo for some odd reason. They acted like brothers that fight all the time, but secretly like each other.

 

"Hux," Kylo addressed him.

 

Hux turned around, his icy blue eyes piercing through Kylo's mask to look into his eyes.

 

"Yes, Kylo?" Hux replied with a welcoming smile.

 

Kylo took a deep breath, knowing Hux wouldn’t like the news.

 

"Remember the girl from the Starkiller base?" Kylo questioned. 

 

"Small girl? The one with your father and the traitor? The one who escaped?" Hux listed off, an attempt to make Kylo feel guilty. It was an unsuccessful attempt.

 

"Yes. She's arrived here, on Dantooine-"

 

"Did you kill her yet?" Hux asked, almost excited for Kylo to confirm the kill.

 

Kylo shook his head. "On the Starkiller base, I gave her an offer. I tempted her into learning the force. At first, she denied, like people would normally do. However, she came here so I could teach her the ways of the force," Kylo tried to explain to Hux.

 

The general coldly looked at Kylo, who braced himself for backlash.

 

"This is not our main objective, Kylo Ren. This isn't an academy, this is an army base. Now if you can't get that through your mind then perhaps you need more lessons from Snoke himself," Hux snapped at Kylo.

 

"This is exactly our objective. If I train her well, and hold her on our side she can give us information about the Resistance and Luke Skywalker. She's a strong girl and I believe she will help our side," Kylo defended his own actions, stepping up to the General.

 

Hux was breathing sharply, now frustrated. He gave a scary grin. "We'll discuss this matter with you, myself, and Snoke."

 

Hux bumped into Kylo's shoulder with his own before storming off. The men in the command center stared at Kylo.

 

"You all have jobs, don't you? Get back to work," Kylo spoke in his heavy toned voice. In fear, everyone went back to work.

 

* * *

 

After Kylo had exited the room, Rey walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She hid in the bathroom just in case she was being monitored with cameras in her room. She pressed her finger down on the back of her hand to speak to Leia. Once she saw the red light glow through her skin, she started to talk.

 

"I'm alright. Kylo took my ear piece, but he didn't see the thing in my hand. I won't be able to actually hold a conversation or report as quickly, but I will tap every now and then to let you guys know I'm ok," Rey spoke rapidly, before releasing her finger. 

 

Rey turned on the shower and let the water warm up. She took a white training suit and saw that it fit her.

 

"How long was I out? Did Kylo just happen to have this in my size?" Rey questioned in a low mutter.

 

Nonetheless, she brought it into the bathroom with her. Halfway through her shower, she heard a hard couple of knocks on her door, she immediately covered her body.

 

"Who is it?" She replied, looking around for a weapon. She quietly chose the body wash.

 

"It's me," Kylo spoke. Rey still held the body wash tightly. "I just wanted to tell you that once you're finished cleansing, I wish to meet you outside in the garden. Take a left and go straight. There shall be an elevator there to take you above ground. The area will look familiar to you," Kylo described, already giving her orders.

 

"Okay. Thanks," Rey replied before hitting her head with her palm. Why did she say it like that? What was she even thanking him for?

 

She heard Kylo's metal footsteps clank until she heard a door slam.

 

She put down the body wash and continued to lather her hair.

  
  



	5. Opia

Leia and the gang were relieved to hear that Rey was safe and sound.   
  
"So far my predictions have been right," Leia sighed with relief. "Let's just hope things go as planned."   
  
Finn needed a break, so he walked outside and looked at the vibrant sunset, taking a deep breath. He watched as the fiery orb lowered, taking all of the beautiful tropical colors with it.  As he kept thinking about the First Order and Rey, he kept getting flashbacks from his experiences with the First Order and the village on Jakku.   
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch.   
  
"Easy, buddy," Poe patted Finn's back.   
  
Finn took a deep breath. "Sorry. I… I was just remembering some things about the First Order-"   
  
"Like what?" Poe asked with curiosity.   
  
"Well, my first mission was at a village in Jakku. The one where Kylo caught you. One of my old friends was shot and… " Finn paused, almost at loss for words. "He reached out for me. He could only touch my helmet, leaving a bloody mark on it," Finn described. He tried hard to remember that night. He saw that man who shot his friend, but not that clearly since it was awfully dark out.   
  
Then he looked at Poe, narrowing his eyes at him.   
  
Poe realized quickly that he shot Finn's friend.   
  
"Now wait a second," Poe raised his hands up. "I didn't mean-"   
  
"It was you!" Finn immediately shoved Poe.   
  
"Listen man! I was just trying to help the village!" Poe defended himself, trying to hold Finn off.    
  
"They were going to die anyways, and you had to add more to the list!" Finn began shouting, before throwing his fist at Poe.   
  
Finn couldn't punch Poe, let alone move.   
  
Luke approached them, holding his hand up and aimed at Finn.   
  
"Are you alright, Poe?" Luke asked first.   
  
"Yeah. We just had a misunderstanding," Poe explained looking at Finn. Even though Finn couldn't move, he was able to look away with a bitter expression.   
  
"I heard it all," Luke replied, before turning to Finn. "I believe you should rest, Finn. Sleep all of your worries and frustrations away."   
  
"I can't. Not while Rey is out them with those  _ monsters _ ," Finn gritted.   
  
"Yes, but would you want Rey to see you acting so vile?" Luke questioned.   
  
Finn was about to argue, but he didn't have a point to argue with. Finn sighed, giving up his fight. Luke released Finn, who walked back inside and to his room. Luke turned to Poe.   
  
"He doesn't truly want to be ill with you," Luke tried to reason with Poe.   
  
"I know. I've seen how stressed he is. Thank you for having things go the way it did," Poe thanked Luke, trying almost too hard to be respectful.   
  
Luke smiled and nodded, before walking back inside with Poe.   


* * *

  
Rey was bathed and changed into slightly uncomfortable clothing. Surprisingly, it was tight on her. It may have been from her damp peachy skin in result of the shower she had taken.   
  
She walked out of her room and heard murmurs of stormtroopers passing by and had crude comments thrown at her.   
  
"Watch your back, girl," one officer scoffed, bumping into her shoulder as they passed by.   
  
"Look at her, walking like she thinks she's got a key card because Crylo let her in," one storm trooper unsuccessfully whispered to his partner as they both leaned against the cold metallic wall.   
  
"I know right," the second trooper replied. "Like she owns the damn place."   
  
She went into the elevator, taking a hard swallow. No one else was on the elevator since that would defeat the purpose of being in hiding.   
  
Once she reached the surface, the air was warmer, but still breezy. She saw Kylo in the garden, holding a piece of cracked pavement in the air.   
  
He suddenly chucked the piece of pavement at Rey, hitting her in the stomach and knocking her back a few feet.   
  
Rey was about to attack him, until Kylo walked up to her and spoke.   
  
"I see that your first lesson will be how to be aware of your objects."   
  
The same piece of pavement snuck out of her sight. She looked around for it, before it hit her in the back of her head.   
  


* * *

  
_ "I didn't mean to stumble into your base!" Rey apologized, stepping backward in fear as a group of rebels moved towards her, pointing guns. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Suddenly, a gun went off and everyone started shooting at something. With the rain pouring in the darkness, she couldn't see what they were shooting at. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She was knocked to the ground from a group of the rebels running by to get their target, only to be thrown back. _ __   
  


* * *

  
Kylo observed Rey as she lay unconscious on the floor. He watched as her fingers twitched along with her brow, her aura darker, and most of all, the little gasps as if she couldn't breathe.     
  
He grew curious, as she was vulnerable. Kylo crouched down and decided to see what was in her mind.   
  


* * *

  
_ Rey watched bodies upon bodies fall onto the ground. Through the heavy rain she saw a red saber glow in the night.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ She knew red meant danger, and stood up as quickly as she could. She started stepping backwards as a group of men and Kylo approached her. _ __   
  


* * *

  
Rey snapped out of the vision, alarmed and panicked for a brief moment. Kylo quickly stood, watching her reaction.   
  
Rey assumed he had been peeping into her mind, feeling him retract from her thoughts.   
  
"You saw that, didn't you?" She asked.   
  
Kylo threw the same piece of pavement at her with the force, an attempt to avoid the topic. He was walking away as he did so, but little did he know, Rey caught it. She threw it at him, hitting him in the back of the mask.   
  
"I was speaking to you!" She raised her voice, marching towards him.   
  
He turned around, holding her in place. Rey's eyes widened in fear, realizing she got ahead of herself.   
  
"That is a topic for another time. I'm not keeping you here to answer questions. I'm keeping you here to train you. Obey or be eliminated," Kylo sternly told her, obviously ticked by the vision he saw Rey have.   
  
She knew that he was hiding something, and she was determined to get it out of him. The only question was how. It would take time to get answers.   
  
Rey did what Kylo told her to do, and trained with her for about two hours. He taught similar to how Master Luke taught. He was firm and disciplined as he taught Rey. Then again, Rey didn't expect him to go soft on her. Not after what she did to his face.   
  
Once those two hours of training were up, Kylo dismissed her.   
  
"Kylo," Rey called out to him. He stopped in his tracks and coldly turned to her. She couldn't see his expression, but assumed it to be serious.    
  
Rey looked around her, seeing the dead flowers. "May I tend to the flowers while you're busy?" She asked Kylo.   
  
Even though Rey couldn't see it, Kylo actually smirked under his mask. "Go ahead. They'll die anyways," he agreed, before walking inside.   
  
Even though the flowers were dead, she was able to pick some seeds from them. She tore half of them out of the ground with her bare hands. Surprisingly, this also took two hours considering how hard it was to dig into the dry ground. She enjoyed the sun hitting her skin, and had hoped Kylo would grow to like it as much as she did.   
  
Unfortunately, she had to stop after one of the officers yelled at her to get inside since it was sundown and dinner time, threatening to starve her if she didn't.   
  
Rey dropped everything and walked inside since the only thing she ate was breakfast. Even though breakfast was plentiful, it wasn't enough to hold her the whole day.   
  
She was guided down the elevator and escorted to a foreign room. There she saw Kylo calmly sitting at the end of a table for six with a hearty meal in front of him and across from him. However, five seats were empty, soon to be four. Rey’s eyes glanced over the various food choices such as Covado salad, dustcrepes, and even bloodsoup. Rey moved her eyes to Kylo, who was patiently waiting.

 

"I believe you had some questions?"


	6. Ravenous

Rey sat across from Kylo, who cut his food and ate it properly. He heard an obnoxious chewing sound coming from across the table.

 

Rey didn't bother using her utensils to eat and bit straight from the steak itself.

 

"Have you no manners?" Kylo questioned her with disgust.

 

Rey’s head popped up, looking at Kylo with wide eyes. "Wot?" She replied with food in her mouth, her cheeks stuffed like a squirrel tucking acorns into its cheeks.

 

Kylo exhaled, giving her a look of disapproval. "Please, chew and swallow before speaking to me, or anyone for that matter," Kylo lectured her, losing his appetite from seeing the mixed mushy food in her mouth.

 

Rey swallowed all of the food in her mouth and let Kylo teach her table manners.

 

"You hold a fork like this, and then the knife like so," he explained, holding his knife up. She mimicked his actions.

 

"You press into the steak and saw through the meat," Kylo spoke as he demonstrated. Rey followed, realizing that it was more convenient to eat like this instead of the way she had been for the past couple of years.

 

"I've seen others eat like this, but no one so far has taught me," Rey smiled at her food.

 

Kylo looked at her, feeling pitiful.

 

_ “This girl hasn't seen the wonders of the world yet, or even learned much of it,”  _ Kylo thought to himself. 

 

Suddenly, Snoke wrapped around his mind like a dust storm, showing him images of the dark side which were all horrifying and enough to get Kylo rattled. All he could see was blood everywhere, the walls, Rey, and his food. He immediately lost his appetite.

 

Rey noticed Kylo's face turning slightly red, and she leaned towards him to look into his eyes. She watched as Kylo’s eyes were completely yellow with red around his iris.

 

Rey’s eyes widened in shock and fear. "Are you-"

 

" _ I'M FINE _ !" He shouted, stabbing the table with his knife. He stood up and walked away for a brief moment, pushing his dark wavy hair back.

 

Rey wondered what she had done, but she had read in Luke’s archives that people who are fully immersed in the Dark Side tend to have yellow eyes temporarily. A former Jedi named Obi-Wan Kenobi saw Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker, with yellow eyes similar to Kylo’s. Luke had told it to her the week prior to her journey.

 

She continued to eat with her freshly learned table manners as she patiently waited for Kylo to calm himself down. Rey tried to take a glance into his mind, only to be violently pushed out. However, it wasn't Kylo who pushed her out, but something more sinister and threatening. It had an aura darker than Kylo's.

 

Kylo suddenly stood straight, as if he felt okay with the flick of a switch.

 

He slowly turned around and sat back down. He continued eating, his eyes already back to normal.

 

"I don't wish to speak about that," he plainly told Rey, almost as a warning to not ask him.

 

Rey silently nodded, setting her fork and knife down. In retrospect, Rey did not wish to ask about it anyways.

 

"May I ask my questions now?" She softly asked, almost afraid of him blowing up again.

 

He nodded silently, looking away from her and down at his food. He was afraid to look at her, to feel pitiful again.

 

"I've been having this one vision as of late-"

 

"It's a flashback," Kylo corrected. He felt Snoke creeping back into his mind again, and he panicked. "That is all I will say for the moment. I- I must go," he rapidly spoke before standing up. "You will remember over time."

 

"Kylo! Wait!" Rey desperately cried out, only to be shoved to a wall by the force.

 

She was breathless as she watched Kylo storm out of his own room.

 

Rey walked out of Kylo's room once she had finished eating. Once she exited, she was greeted with two Stormtroopers with a red shoulder plate. They guided her to her room, which was only two doors down the hall. The troopers closed her inside the room. 

 

She was greeted with a bookshelf, holding a number of books about the force. They all looked old with torn and tattered hardcovers. She pulled one out and blew the dust off of it before observing the cover. She assumed Kylo wanted her to study the force in her free time. Not only were there books about the force, but also ones of the dark side, almost as if he wanted to tempt her. She stayed away from those for her own safety, putting the book back on the shelf.

 

She walked into the bathroom and pressed down on that special area on her backhand, reaching the Resistance base.

 

"I'm still alright. I'm about to go to bed since Kylo had a room prepared for me. So far he's trained me, showing me the force, but I fear that Snoke holds his mind. He had a meltdown during dinner and left. I was escorted back to my room which is just down the hall. Overall, Kylo has treated me somewhat well and I'm somewhat okay. I love you all. Goodnight."

 

Rey released the button, tears swelling in her eyes. She walked towards her bed swiftly to grab her pillow and sob into it.

 

* * *

 

At the Resistance base, everyone heard the cries of Rey.

 

It tore everyone's hearts, making them look at the floor or to each other from feeling uncomfortable. Leia also was close to tears, until her brother took her shoulder.

 

Luke nobly stared at the holograms presented to him."She's ok, sister. Just a little homesick I assume," Luke tried to assure Leia.

 

Leia looked up to the old Jedi. "She's scared, Luke. I sure as hell would be too," Leia responded with a sorrowful look in her eye.

 

Meanwhile, Poe watched as a tear slipped from Finn's eye. Finn closed his eyes, letting Rey's song of sorrow echo his mind. Finn knew he had to get her out somehow.

 

BB-8 let out a sad beep beside Poe, noticing that he was staring at Finn.

 

"I know buddy,” Poe patted the droid’s head, before confidently saying “She'll be alright, though. She's strong.”

 

He and Finn held eye contact for a brief second before they both looked away, still settling their differences.

 

 

* * *

Kylo stood outside of Rey's bedroom door, hearing her cry. He crossed his arms, part of him feeling satisfied by the noise, and the other part of him wanting to comfort her. Of course, he had to ignore the other part of him or else he would be whipped back into shape by Snoke.

 

Hux walked down the hall with his confident stride. 

 

"I see your lab rat is enjoying her stay," Hux gave a snarky remark.

 

Hux laughed as he walked away, and Kylo let his head hang, resting his helmet in his palm. 

 

It was a terrible night for everyone.

 

* * *

 

Rey awoke and rubbed her sore eyes. She never really let out her emotions like this. Once and awhile she'd cry, thinking about her family she had awaited for so many years on Jakku. She never cried because she was scared. Rey is known as a trooper and a tough cookie everywhere she went, and she knew that herself. Here? That is a different story.

 

To calm down, she sat on the floor, legs crossed. Her eyes were closed and she began to meditate. Luke had told her meditating was good to find inner peace and practiced with her every day.

 

After a few minutes, her brow twitched. She thought nothing of it until her head flew back as she let out a loud gasp, eyes wide.

 

* * *

 

_ Rey was home, in Jakku. She was packing up whatever she had. It felt like she was spectating herself, but she was in her body. It was almost like an autopilot mode. _

 

_ She collected the rations she had been saving, her clothes, and whatever money she had scrounged up. She was around the same age as she is now, but a year younger. _

 

_ She started to walk out of the ship she had always lived in.  _

 

_ " **I'm going to find them. I know I can!** **"** Rey thought eagerly, and almost desperately. She felt useless just living and going through the same old thing. She needed to find them herself instead of waiting any longer. _

 

_ Rey walked for almost a day, thirsty and exhausted. She dragged herself into what looked like a decent settlement. She walked in, tired and hungry. People gave her dirty glances, but she was already used to that in her other small village. _

 

_ Rey walked up to a random man in a weak metal suit of armor, who looked to be in authority. _

 

_ "Excuse me? Is there anywhere I can spend the night?" Rey politely asked. _

 

_ "You can stay at my place for that bag of yours," he nodded to her bag, before looking at her body. _

 

_ Stubbornly, Rey turned her nose and began to walk away, asking others in the area for a place to stay. The man gathered some of his men and made a plan against Rey as she kept walking away. Rey didn’t realize she had run into a rebel base. _

 

_ It began to rain, and Rey sighed. She didn't know what she expected from this expedition. Hell, she didn't know where she was even going. _

 

_ As she was leaving, thinking about going back home, she was shoved to the ground and robbed. _

 

_ Suddenly, a few shouts were heard in the distance. _

 

_ "THE KNIGHTS OF REN! THEY'RE HERE!" A woman shrieked. _

 

_ The people of the base turned to Rey, assuming she led them there. As people fought the Knights of Ren, they tried fighting Rey. She easily took them down with whatever fighting moves she'd learned over the years. _

 

_ Then in the midst of all the rain and dead bodies of the rebel base, the Knights of Ren followed their leader, Kylo Ren.  _

 

_ Kylo walked towards Rey menacingly, and she stumbled backward as she had done in the other countless flashbacks.  _

 

_ Kylo put away his saber, walking up to Rey fast. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the muddy floor. _

 

_ "She's the last one," one of the knights reported. _

 

_ "Are you going to kill her or what Kylo?" Another knight complained. _

 

_ "No," Kylo replied, speaking in his robotic voice. "She isn't one of them. She's different…" _

 

_ Kylo took her cheek. _

 

_ "Leave me be," she stared him down, brows furrowed. _

 

_ Kylo looked up at the sky with a short sigh. "We have met too early, the force tells me. We will meet again at another time." _

 

_ With that, Kylo waved his hand in front of her face, having her fall into his grasp. _

 

* * *

 

Rey flung forward with yet another gasp, finding Kylo sitting right in front of her with his mask on.

 

"Now you know," Kylo said, staring at her through his mask.

 

Rey gave him a confused stare. "That it?" She questioned. She felt like there was more to the story.

 

Kylo shook his head. "There's more. It will come to you in time. I hope."

 

Kylo stared at Rey, her light freckles, her neat complexion, her quizzical expression. He wanted her to know more. She had so much power in her, yet she had no idea.  

 

"Careful Kylo…" Snoke spoke to him in the back of his mind. "You must destroy whatever light is in you still."

 

Snoke wrapped Kylo's mind in smoke, showing him flashes of terrifying images that the darkness had done. Snoke reminded Kylo as to why he was on the dark side; the First Order.

 

Rey watched as Kylo changed, and she saw him vulnerable as he saw her earlier when she was in her episode.

 

She took the opportunity to go into his mind, almost like looking through a photo album. 

 

A few times she was shoved out by something that wasn't Kylo, but she eventually cracked her way inside to find grotesque images. She also felt Snoke's presence occupying his mind. 

 

It overwhelmed Kylo, having two people inside his mind. He clutched his head, so Rey worked fast.

 

She concentrated, creating something similar to a shield in Kylo's mind. It pained her to do it, but it may help her in the long run.

 

"Kylo, remember who you are now. Remember…" Snoke warned, his voice fading away.

 

The loudness in Kylo's mind slowly went away. He felt less claustrophobic. 

 

Kylo slowly took off his mask and set it down on his lap in order to breathe. He revealed the tears swelling in his eyes, yet he desperately tried to hide it.

 

"Thank you…" Kylo murmured, unsure of how to reply. Part of him wants to push her out of his mind and let Snoke torment him, yet the other part wants to hug her and cry on her shoulder repeating thank you like a broken record.

 

"Yeah…" Rey nodded, looking at Kylo, slightly afraid of how he could react next.

 

Kylo stood up, put his mask back on, and walked towards the door. 

 

Once the door closed behind Kylo, Rey walked into the bathroom and pressed down on that one area on the back of her hand to see the dim red light.

 

"I'm awake. It seems that Kylo has Snoke holding his mind. I was able to push Snoke out temporarily, but I don't know how Kylo will react next or what could potentially happen to me."

 

Rey took the time to put her hair in her three buns with some stray hairs sticking out to add to her signature look. She washed her face with some cold water before exiting the room. Of course, there was a guard waiting for her.

 

The guard lead her to Kylo's room again, where there was the same arrangement as the previous night.

 

Kylo sat, already eating his food. Rey quietly walked in, sitting across from him.

 

Kylo swallowed whatever he was chewing, before saying "Leave us be," to the troopers by his door. The storm troopers saluted Kylo before marching out of the room.

 

Once the door closed, Kylo let out somewhat of a relieved breath.

 

"Let's not make a repeat of last night," Kylo spoke in his low bassy voice. He cut the curve of his fork into his eggs, before stabbing it and placing it in his mouth.

 

"May I ask some questions, and possibly have them answered this time?" Rey asked.

 

Kylo nodded, paying more attention to his delicious food than Rey.

 

"In the past, you said the force said we met too soon," Rey stated. Kylo cut her off.

 

"I sensed that you had the force, I had no clue you had any affiliation with Luke Skywalker. I believe the light in me at the time tricked me."

 

Rey began to eat her food, not wanting to be rude. It was annoying that she wasn't allowed to speak as she chewed, but she knew it was time to learn her manners.

 

Kylo set down his fork, intertwined his hands on the dinner table, and looked directly at Rey.

 

"Even though I feel partially betrayed by myself, I also feel that I wasn't wrong. I see potential in you," Kylo told Rey.

 

Rey swallowed her food, giving a quizzical stare. "How so?" 

 

Kylo gave an excited smile, one that frightened Rey a little. She never saw Kylo's crooked smile, but only occasional snide smirks.

 

"I see you as a great asset in the First Order. I can train you in the dark side as my padawan," he told her, his face glowing with the idea brewing in his corrupt mind.

 

"What good is the dark side?" Rey questioned. "What does it do for you?"

 

"For me? I feel in charge… powerful…" Kylo listed in wonder. "I'm finishing what my grandfather wanted."

 

"You can feel that way with the light side too! You just never gave it a chance," Rey told him frankly.

 

"I have!" Kylo raised his voice. "I had no one until Snoke reached out to me-"

 

"And started torturing you!" Rey concluded.

 

"He's helping me!" Kylo shouted, slamming his hands on the table as he shot up from his seat.

 

The door opened to the two. Both Rey and Kylo turned their heads to the entrance to find Hux, confidently standing as he looked over both of them.

 

"Well, well. What have we here? A tea party and I'm not invited?" Hux teased both of them.

 

Rey glanced at Kylo to see he looked annoyed. Rey looked at Hux, to find him looking down at her like a peasant, an animal, something less than him.

 

"Mmm. Maybe it's best I wasn't invited. You two were in the middle of an intriguing argument…" Hux sounded amused.

 

"Just speaking to her about why the dark side is important," Kylo replied, before staring down Rey. Rey stared right back, not afraid of Kylo.

 

"Hurry it up. Snoke wishes to speak with us, and specifically you for some odd reason," Hux tapped his wrist, acting as if there was a chrono there.

 

Rey and Kylo watched Hux, the two letting out a deep sigh. At least there's one thing they have in common, which was their annoyance with Hux.

 

"He seems great," Rey spoke with great sarcasm.

 

"He has his good moments, but mostly bad as of late. Ever since you came," Kylo commented.

 

Kylo and Rey quietly finished their meal. When they both finished, Kylo stood up. He took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

 

"Let's train on the surface. I'm not in the mood for either Hux or Snoke," Kylo shook his head.

 

"Really?!" Rey gasped with slight excitement.

 

"Yes," Kylo replied with seriousness. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a saber. "Here. You'll need this. Use it and I won't hesitate to execute you in front of everyone."

 

Rey took the saber, looking down at it with curiosity and interest. 

 


	7. Luminescent

Kylo and Rey walked on the dry land of Dantooine. The planet was bare with little to no trees, although it had some ruins around along with some small hills.

 

Rey glanced over to Kylo, who walked alongside her with his usual confident strut.

 

"I'm surprised you aren't going to that meeting Hux was talking about," Rey spoke with a proud smile, thinking he had changed slightly for the better.

 

"That is none of your concern," Kylo firmly told her.

 

Rey's smile slowly faded, reminding herself that Kylo isn't  _ there _ yet, but she's taking baby steps to snap him back to his old self.

 

Kylo looked over to see Rey's smile fade. He tried to ignore it, but he actually felt bad for once. It was a disgusting feeling that made his stomach twirl.

 

He made a bold decision in the heat of the moment.

 

"Follow me." 

 

Within the week the First Order was at Dantooine, it gave Kylo a chance to explore the area. Only him, Hux, and some other important officers were allowed on top.

 

Kylo led Rey into a cave, where they ran into several disgusting spider-like bugs. Kylo claimed that it was for practice, but he knew exactly where they were going.

 

Deep within the cave they ventured, they came to a dead end. However, there were ginormous crystals of all types of colors green, yellow, blue, pink- all over the room!

 

Rey made a small gasp, approaching one of the crystals, touching it to feel it was slightly warm, radiating a soft amount of heat.

 

Rey traced her fingers along the ridges and cracks of the glowing blue crystal in front of her. Her eyes illuminated with wonder. "I've never seen anything like this in my entire life…" Rey told Kylo quietly. The room was so empty, you could hear a pin drop. 

 

Once again, Kylo felt sorry for Rey. However, Snoke didn't attack him. This nearly scared Kylo.

 

_ Had Snoke lost hope in him? Will he be murdered once he returns to his base? _

 

The thought of everyone turning on him in a split second crossed Kylo's mind, but he saw how Rey stared at the crystals lovingly. Kylo smiled beneath his helmet, before approaching Rey. At first, Rey jumped. She didn't know what Kylo was doing.

 

Kylo took the crystal from the ground using the force, before taking several others out.

 

He struggled to have them slowly spin around the room, lighting up the darkness in the cave.

 

"That's amazing!" Rey laughed, before helping Kylo hold them up.

 

Kylo glanced over to see Rey's lit up face, her opened mouth in a partial smile, and wide eyes as she watched the crystals go round and round.

 

At that moment, Rey's wondrous expression turned into a pained expression.

 

She suddenly dropped, her legs giving out. Kylo caught her, letting all the 50 to 100-pound crystals drop to the ground.

 

He sensed her having a flashback, but decided not to intrude on it.

 

* * *

 

Rey watched herself be carried by Kylo, as his Knights of Ren carried Rey's luggage. They traveled all the way back to the village that Rey came from. They were all able to sneak under the noses of all the people in the town.

 

Kylo had entered Rey's mind, reading about her. He only cared about where she came from since he wanted to put her back.

 

Kylo brought her back to that ship she had always lived in since she was a little girl. He found her bed and laid her down in it. He put a blanket over her. 

 

"What now?" One of the Knights asked.

 

"Now, I erase her memory and meet again," Kylo replied, waving his hand over her face. 

 

* * *

 

 

Rey's eyes opened slowly, seeing Kylo patiently wait for her.

 

"What did you see?" Kylo asked her, now curious by her calm awakening.

 

"You didn't look?" Rey questioned, sitting up on her own.

 

Kylo simply looked away at all of the crystals now misplaced. Rey saw that Kylo truly was turning back into Ben.

 

Rey wanted to reward Kylo with her flashback.

 

"What happened was I saw you carrying me. You were with the Knights of Ren. Then you brought me back home and laid me in my bed before wiping my memory," Rey explained, as Kylo nodded.

 

"That was all of it," Kylo confirmed.

 

Rey was relieved that she didn't have to black out as much anymore. 

 

Rey pulled out her saber and stood up with Kylo.

 

"Would you like to practice?" She asked.

 

"That's why we are here, correct?" Kylo also took out his saber.

 

* * *

 

Finn was in his room, eating breakfast alone. He couldn't stop being worried about Rey. This was completely unlike him since he's never had any  _ real _ friends like Poe and Rey. He didn't care much about Poe killing his old friend at the moment, though, which was possibly a good thing.

 

With all of this alone time, he had finally thought of a plan to save Rey and Kylo.

 

Finn crept out onto the spaceport and crawled into one of the ships that could fit at least four people into it. In this case, he only needed room for two.

 

He hit buttons, not knowing what he was doing. However, he hit something to have the ship start flying.

 

"Oh… I'm going to be in so much trouble," Finn shook his head, smiling out of fear.

 

Once Finn started to hover over the ground, Poe had taken notice in the distance.

 

"WAIT! HEY!" Poe started running towards the ship, now growing smaller. BB-8 rolled alongside Poe, also beeping for Finn.

 

Poe was only slightly out of breath since he didn't run too far.

 

BB-8 just looked at Poe, letting out a disappointed few beeps.

 

"I know buddy. He's gonna get himself into some trouble…" Poe fretted for his friend. 

 


	8. Faith

Rey walked back inside with Kylo after their hard training. Both of them had sweat all over them, washing off the dirt they attracted on their bodies.

 

Once the elevator touched down, the two of them swiftly marched down the hall with confidence, storm troopers saluting both of them with respect. They nearly owned the place, until Hux stood in front of the two of them, cutting off their stride.

 

Kylo stopped, but Rey made the mistake of bumping into him. Hux looked down at her with disgust, and she took a step back.

 

Hux looked at Kylo, completely ignoring Rey's presence. "Snoke would like to talk to you… privately."

 

Kylo took a hard swallow before nodding, not bothering to look at Rey before he left. Kylo left Hux and Rey alone, where they had an intense stare down. Rey narrowed her eyes at Hux's features, his pasty white skin, glassy blue eyes, and a slightly hollow face.

 

"I feel as if we started on the wrong page," Hux finally spoke to break the silence, but not the tension.

 

"Really?" Rey questioned rhetorically.

 

Hux took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was almost as if he was  _ trying _ to be nice to her.

 

Rey could tell Hux was struggling to even speak to her because he thought so lowly of her. She brushed into his mind.

 

" _ This light side scum- _ "

 

Hux cut off his thought, realizing that she was reading his mind.

 

"You little bratty bi-"

 

"General Hux," a strong metallic voice interrupted.

 

They both turned to see Captain Phasma standing confidently. Rey quickly observed her polished silver trooper uniform. Hux looked at her blankly.

 

"The control room needs your assistance," Phasma spoke, also not looking at Rey. 

 

Hux took a deep breath, relieved that this conversation was over with. He turned to Rey and said sourly "A conversation for another time perhaps?"

 

"Yeah… sure…" Rey agreed.

 

Since Rey was alone, she went back to the surface to tend to her garden.

 

* * *

 

Finn finally arrived at Dantooine on what felt like a long and excruciating trip. It wasn't easy dodging random meteors floating in outer space. It took Finn at least thirty minutes to figure out how to go light speed.

 

Nonetheless, he made it to the planet. However, as soon as he set foot on the planet he had no idea where to go. He kept walking until he found some footprints that were similar to what Rey had found. The only difference was that these were fresh.

 

Finn was terrified and couldn't imagine how Rey even felt. Then again, Finn had much more on his plate. He's almost positive that the First Order will murder him.

 

After a solid hour of following footprints, he heard running behind him. That was when he realized he made the stupid mistake of following the footsteps the wrong way. 

 

He turned around, eyes wide with a gasp to see five storm troopers dashing towards him.

 

"TRAITOR!" One of them yelled, pointing at Finn.

 

Finn turned forward and began running as fast as he could. The dirt grew wet, making it harder to run. He didn't come equipped with anything, which he now regretted.

 

" _ What the hell was I thinking?! How could I have thought that I could run into the base and walk out with Rey?! Stupid! _ " Finn scolded himself mentally.

 

He felt a pain smash into his leg, causing him to scream and fall. It felt like someone had burned a cigarra into his skin and it was burning through his flesh and bones. Imagine that, but times ten with a bigger cigarra.

 

The storm troopers clocked him on the back of the head, causing him to drop his face into the dirt.

 

* * *

 

Kylo stood in front of Supreme Leader Snoke, looking incredibly displeased.

 

"Kylo… I feel a lack of faith with you. It's making me angry," Snoke leaned forward, getting closer to Kylo.

 

"Forgive me, the supreme leader," Kylo bowed his head down with guilt. "I assure you that I do not wish to steer away from our goal. Our destiny.  _ My _ destiny."

 

"Bah!" Snoke waved his hand in the air, throwing Kylo back full force into a wall. Defeated, Kylo fell to the floor and remained seated. The back of his head stung and he attempted to regain the life that knocked out of his lungs. He took off his mask and dug his hand through his thick raven black hair.

 

"The girl is much stronger than you may ever be. Maybe I should use her instead of you…" Snoke looked away from Kylo in disgust. At that moment, Snoke had realized that his greatest gift was under his nose all along.

 

"Ah… yes," Snoke drew out the words with his low gritty voice.

 

Kylo looked up to Snoke, feeling blood on his own hand. The creature looked down at Kylo before saying "Bring me the girl. I believe we have much to talk about."

 

Kylo didn't want to bring Rey. It was a mix of Kylo being jealous and the fact that Rey hasn't practiced nearly as much as he would have liked.

 

Kylo stood up sourly, putting on his mask before leaving the room as Snoke's hologram faded away. He stormed over to the elevator, sensing that Rey was on the upside.

 

"Sir?" One of the officers rushed up behind Kylo, who swirled around and stuck out his arm, bending his fingers  _ just right _ to grab the officer and pull him close to Kylo. He and the officer were now face to face.

 

"What?" Kylo sneered in disdain.

 

The officer managed to choke out "A-A group of stormtroopers scouting the outdoors captured FN-2187…"

 

Kylo yelled in anger, throwing the officer to the wall like a rag doll.

 

" _ The girl led the resistance to us… _ " Kylo thought to himself.

 

He made it to the elevator and started going up.

 

* * *

 

Rey had  _ just _ finished her beautiful little garden. Some of the plants grew fast, while others were just seedlings. She sat on the bench feeling like this was the one place she could be sane at. The one place where she could meditate.

 

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining the island that she always thinks of. The waves crashing on the shore, before receding into the ocean.

 

"REY!" Kylo shouted at the top of his lungs. Rey's eyes popped open to see Kylo throw his mask on the ground before wielding his lightsaber.

  
Rey quickly got up and pulled out her saber. She positioned herself into fighting stance, not knowing what to expect from Kylo this time.


	9. Impulse

Kylo swung his crimson saber at Rey's icy saber, the two colliding and making a beautiful purple glow.   
  
"You ratted us out to the resistance!" Kylo accused Rey.   
  
"No, I didn't!" Rey lied, pushing Kylo away.    
  
Kylo swung at Rey's head, but she ducked just in time. They quarreled for a good five minutes before growing out of breath. They stood a few feet away from each other for a brief moment.   
  
Kylo panted like a dog before saying in between breaths, "We caught FN-2187…"   
  
"What?! How?" Rey exclaimed, setting her lightsaber down to her side.   
  
"Don't LIE!" Kylo screamed, using the force to throw Rey aside. He swung his saber around recklessly, murdering all of the innocent plant life around Rey's new garden.   
  
Rey sat in defeat and tears. She watched as the saber burned each and every plant.    
  
Kylo had stopped once he heard Rey quietly sob as she watched him go at it. He turned to her, realizing what he had done.   
  
"I had  _ just _ finished that!" Rey painfully told Kylo.   
  
Kylo blankly looked at Rey, now feeling regretful of his actions.   
  
"Rey-"   
  
"YOU'RE A MONSTER!" She shrieked, making Kylo flinch a little before Rey had taken off.   
  
She ran back into the First Order's base, going underground. Storm troopers saluted her as she ran by sobbing.   
  
That was when she heard that ghostly voice in her head.   
  
"Rey…" she heard Snoke call for her.   
  
Rey had never heard Snoke's voice before, but she  _ knew _ it was him. It terrified her.    
  
"Leave me alone!" Rey shouted, before going into her room, locking the door behind her. She ran to her bed, wailing like a child.   
  
She was just  _ so _ angry. She was angry at Kylo. She was angry for even being sent there. She was angry that Finn was captured somehow.   
  
She heard the door jiggle and ignored it. Then, the door opened to two storm troopers. They both came in, and started walking towards Rey.   
  
Panicked, Rey forced them against the wall before shouting "Go away!"   
  
That only caused five more to rush in and take Rey, dragging her somewhere as she cried. She felt humiliated. The people passing by looked with confusion.   
  
"Why was Kylo's apprentice being dragged down the hall in tears? She seemed strong," is probably what they were thinking.   
  
She was thrown into a room, forced onto her hands and knees. They slammed the door behind her as Rey held in her tears.    
  
"Rey…"    
  
The teary-eyed scavenger girl looked up with horror. She saw Supreme Leader Snoke staring down at her with a blank face, not moved by her emotions or hatred.   
  
"Why did you bring me here?" Rey asked, now angry at Snoke.   
  
"Because you need me," Snoke told her.    
  
Rey shook her head, looking at the floor. "No… No! I will never need you!" She responded with ferocity in her voice.   
  
"Never say never," Snoke smirked. He leaned down to look at Rey, observing her weaknesses. He crept into her mind like an intruder in a home. There wasn't a single creak in the floor boards and everything was untouched. "I see you're angry. The resistance did abandon you here after all. Leia Organa must not care enough about you to send one man to rescue you. Or are you mad that your family abandoned you? Maybe it's the fact… Kylo smashed your garden."   
  
Rey listened to what Snoke had to say, because he wasn't wrong after all.    
  
"I know you don’t agree with everything I had done. Kylo was the same at first. He came to his senses later on. You will do the same," Snoke told Rey.    
  
"Get to the point," Rey gritted her teeth.   
  
Snoke took a deep breath, thinking of a plan. "Give training at least a week. We will show you impressive and better things of the force compared to Luke Skywalker."   
  
Rey didn't really have a choice, and she was trapped there anyways.   
  
"Okay," Rey agreed. "One week. That's it."

  
Snoke nodded his head before he faded out. Rey stood on her two feet and walked out of the room. No one was waiting for her, so she went back to her room since her garden was destroyed.   


 

* * *

 

  
Finn was in the interrogation room. He was cuffed to the interrogation chair, pinned down from the lack of wiggle room. Droplets of sweat rolled down his face. The room was boiling hot, which was part of the torture.    
  
Captain Phasma sat in a chair, now on watch duty as she waited for General Hux to tend to the traitor.   
  
"I guess I'm in charge now," Phasma told Finn, grinning under her helmet.   
  
Finn scoffed, looking at the captain. "How was the trash compactor?"    
  
Phasma was about to hit him with the end of her gun, but Hux walked into the room, nodding off Phasma. She saluted him and exited the room.   
  
"FN-2187-"   
  
"It's Finn now," Finn corrected.   
  
Hux immediately backhanded the former Stormtrooper. "Here, you will be addressed as FN-2187! I also won't be interrupted. IS THAT CLEAR?!" Hux shouted in Finn's face. Finn grimaced and turned away, hating the smell of other people's breaths.   
  
Hux brushed off his chest before continuing. "FN-2187. You are currently held under treason of the First Order. Your fate is in Snoke and Kylo's hands, for I have no say in the matter. If I did, I would send you to death," Hux told FN-2187.   
  
FN-2187 gritted his teeth, looking away. Hux grabbed FN-2187's cheeks, squishing them as hard as he could before forcing him to stare into his cold eyes.   
  
"What I do have a say in, is what to do with you right now. You have information of the Resistance, and we need it," Hux hissed.   
  
"That won't come easy," FN-2187 grunted from feeling uncomfortable.   
  
Hux smirked, looking more sinister than usual. "Oh, believe me. I know."   
  
Hux pulled out a pair of pliers before going to FN-2187's trapped hand. Hux went to his pinky finger, clamping the plier onto the fingernail.   
  
"Have they found Luke Skywalker?" Hux questioned, looking at FN-2187's eyes.   
  
"Fuck you," FN-2187 responded with, bracing for the pain.   
  
Hux was somewhat happy he responded with that, just so he could watch him suffer. Hux slowly pulled off the nail, making FN-2187 let out a blood-curdling scream of agony.   
  
This was only the beginning of his torturing.    



	10. Ricochet

  Kylo sat in the broken garden alone, regretting what he had done. For about thirty minutes, Kylo thought about his irresponsible actions and disrespectful attitude. Then he started practicing his apology to Rey, since Kylo _never_ apologized to anyone, besides, of course, Supreme Leader Snoke.  
  
"Rey, I'm sorry for destroying your garden."  
  
 _No, no. That sounded too father like._ _  
_  
"Hey. I just wanted to say sorry for treating you with disrespect... no..."  
  
 _That sounded too authoritative._ _  
_ __  
"Hey, buddy-"  
  
No.  
  
"Screw it. I've been sitting here too long!" Kylo threw his arms up before letting them fall to his sides in defeat. He picked up his metallic helmet and put it on, approaching the hidden base. He took the elevator down, ignoring the stormtroopers saluting him.   
  
Kylo approached Rey's door and knocked. He took his helmet off and patiently waited. He observed the white door and let his eyes follow the grated flooring.   
  
Once the door had opened, he saw a disheveled Rey look at him with her puffy hazel eyes and red nose.  
  
"What do you want?" She spoke, her voice still cracked. Rey was hurt, but she tried to not let Kylo see that. Unfortunately for Rey, Kylo noticed quite easily.  
  
Kylo stood in silence, not knowing what to say. He had never been any good in those type of situations. Even with Snoke, it was hard for Kylo to come up with an apology, or even take the blame.  
  
"I wanted to apologize. I..." Kylo sighed, struggling to put his thoughts into words.  
  
Rey watched him struggle but did nothing about it. She wanted him to suffer from this awkward conversation.  
  
"The way I have been treating you as of late is disrespectful. I wish to treat you as my equal, so I will help rebuild your garden," Kylo told her, now relieved that he finally ended the apology.  
  
Rey kept a straight face, nodding in agreement. "Thank you."  
  
"And about FN-2187-"  
  
"His name is Finn," Rey corrected. "But continue."  
  
"Well, ~Finn~ is in the interrogation and will stay there. Snoke's orders. You also can't visit him, but I will try and give you updates on his condition." Kylo explained to Rey calmly.  
  
"Just... make sure they don't kill him. Please?" Rey begged, terrified of what they would do and what had already been done to him.  
  
Kylo could tell Rey cared so much about her friend. "He would've been dead by now. Trust me," Kylo assured Rey, before leaving.  
  
Rey watched Kylo walk nobly down the hall, the thunks of his shoes on the grate flooring growing farther. She was proud of him for owning up to his actions.  
  


* * *

  
  
Leia was sitting in her chair in disbelief, unable to stand because of the news Poe had given her.  
  
She shook her head before mumbling "I can't believe this. Not only have we potentially lost another friend, but the whole mission may have been jeopardized."  
  
The old woman looked up to Luke and Poe, who stared at her with sadness across their faces. Neither of them liked to see Leia worry like this. It was a strange tone. They saw her all the time as a brave courageous General who was never bothered by anything in her way.  
  
This shed a new light on Leia, making Poe realize that the General had some layers.  
  
Poe cleared his throat before confidently saying "They will be fine, Leia. I'd give them a week before we do anything crucial."  
  
Leia shook her head in disbelief. "It's a risky decision. We could risk it all and go on a full war with the First Order, or there's the off chance that Rey and Finn are okay."  
  
"Rey is still alive. I can sense it," Luke told Leia. That was a lie since Rey was a far distance from the Resistance base.  
  
Leia calmly took a deep breath, hoping to not cry right then and there. She stood up carefully, her entire body shaking as she did so. She made her way to where she and Luke usually stood in front of the holograms.  
  
"What are you doing, Leia?" Luke questioned, standing by her side.  
  
"Waiting for a sign. We will give it two days, but if Rey doesn't call in a few days, we are preparing for flight," Leia decided, looking at all of the information on the holograms.  
  


* * *

  
  
Rey was in the garden once again, but this time with Kylo. They both pulled up the roots of burned and singed plants, giving the entire garden a whole new look. Kylo felt the rough and coarse soil on his bare hands. It was strange since he would normally wear gloves with his outfit.   
  
Rey glanced over her shoulder, humoring herself with the sight of Kylo Ren, the florist, gardening with little ole' Rey. She admired how gentle he was, even if he was digging up dirt and yanking plants from underneath.  
  
"Am I intruding the gardening club?" The two heard a familiar voice. They both rolled their eyes before glancing over, seeing General Hux stand over them with his dominant pride.  
  
Kylo glanced at Rey, who was sitting on her knees as she stared back at Kylo. "What is it?" Kylo questioned Hux, standing from the ground, now giving his undivided attention.  
  
Hux cleared his throat about to break some news. "Snoke has a mission for us. All of us," he glared at Rey, before looking back at Kylo.   
  
"What is it?" Kylo interrogated, taking a few steps closer to Hux to show his interest.  
  
Hux pointed northeast of their hidden base before saying "There's a rebel base a couple hundred feet from here. We must travel there in an hour to pillage the base of all of its supplies and bring it back for ourselves since our supply will run low soon."  
  
"Why do I have to go?" Rey questioned, pushing herself up from the ground using her knee as leverage. "This sounds like a task for a fleet of stormtroopers."  
  
Hux smirked, looking at Kylo before looking to Rey. "You need to prove yourself to Supreme Leader Snoke."  
  
Kylo looked back at Rey to see a reaction, but she remained unchanged. Rey gave a firm nod to Hux. She noticed that he had blood on his hands, making her eyes narrow. Hux noticed, causing him to turn around and swiftly walk away.  
  
Kylo cleared his throat, catching Rey's attention.   
  
"Should we clean this up and continue another time?"   
  
"Yes," Rey agreed, looking at the mess surrounding them. "I don't believe we need to clean up, though."  
  
Kylo nodded his head affirmatively before walking away from Rey. Not knowing what else to do, Rey jogged to Kylo, walking alongside him.  
  
"When will we train?" Rey questioned.  
  
"Before we leave. Try and get ready within the hour and meet me in the garden. This time, I won't ruin it," Kylo promised.  
  
Rey looked at the ground, remembering the sound of cracking branches and the color being drained out of the flowers from earlier. She decided to put that all behind her since she had other matters to attend to.  
  


* * *

  
  
Rey changed into her usual set of loose drapey robes, creamy in color, feeling more flexible compared to that white jumpsuit the First Order had given her. She ate a brief snack in the cafeteria, surrounded by several stormtroopers who seemed afraid of her.  
  
She grew self-conscious, overhearing some impressive rumors. She wished some were true.  
  
She ate fast from being uncomfortable, all eyes on her and low whispers and murmurs escaping from lips.  
  
Rey left the cafeteria and went topside to meet Kylo again. Immediately, he wielded his lightsaber. Rey pulled hers out from her belt, activating it so that it sprung to life. They playfully dueled for a few minutes, not trying as hard as they had earlier.   
  
The sun was setting behind the two, having the sabers illuminate the darkness surrounding them. Suddenly, they both heard marching come from the distance. The both of them turned, seeing a whole fleet of stormtroopers start moving northeast.   
  
"Follow me," Kylo ordered Rey, already walking ahead of her. She tried keeping pace with Kylo's large steps, for he was much taller than her.   
  
Kylo and Rey approached Hux, who was conducting the whole team. Hux paid no mind to them, shouting at the troopers "COME ON MEN! YOU HAVE LEGS! USE THEM!"  
  
Hux turned to the duo, immediately eyeing Rey's saber. "You won't be needing that." He handed her a blaster before taking her saber and handing it to Kylo.  
  
Rey tucked the gun into her belt, before Kylo took it right back out, switching the safety on. He handed it back to Rey, who embarrassingly put it back in her belt.  
  
"Anyways," Hux inhaled sharply. "Once we arrive, your duties are to kill at once. Our objective is to kill, loot, and leave. Is that clear?"  
  
"Why do we have to kill?" Rey innocently asked, before looking up to Kylo to jump on her side. He did not and remained silent.  
  
"We kill them so they won't trace us back here. Understood?" Hux snapped at Rey.  
  
Rey just nodded, before leaving Kylo and Hux to walk amongst the stormtroopers.  
  
It took them at least thirty minutes to reach the rebel base, only that it wasn't a base. It was a village combined with a base. It was an odd mix, but that meant that more people would be killed.  
  
Rey stood upon a small hill, watching as the area screamed in horror, bodies dropping, lives being lost.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Hux shouted in Rey's ear. "Shoot!"   
  
"No way. I am not killing when we don't have to!" Rey argued with the General. Hux had about enough with her, so he took his own gun and forced Rey to hold it, manhandling her down the hill. Rey screamed and kicked about, screaming "KYLO!" at the top of her lungs over and over. Hux forced her to point and shoot a mother watching her child flee the scene.  
  
Kylo looked over to see what was happening and watched as Hux forced her to shoot the woman. He saw the light leave Rey's eyes as she watched the mother fall to the ground. He saw her horrified expression: tears in her eyes, jaw dropped, and hopeless.  
  
Rey obviously was not ready for this, and Kylo had found out much too late.  
  
Hux shoved Rey towards the area, only to have her fall on her knees.  
  
"Now you have no witty comebacks, yeah? All talk but no fight in you. You _disgust_ me," Hux grimaced. Hux was about to pull Rey up but was frozen. He looked over his shoulder to see Kylo approach him.   
  
Now that Kylo was closer, he saw how shaken poor Rey actually was, the tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Kylo Ren," Hux harshly said, only to be cut off with the force. Kylo didn't force choke Hux, but he made him shut up.  
  
Kylo extended his hand to Rey, who denied it and got up on her own.  
  
"I-I don't need your help," Rey denied coldly. "Go ahead! Kill all of those innocent people. What have they ever done for you, right?"  
  
Rey started to run away from the scene, hearing Kylo shout her name. She ignored him and ran faster.  
  
Kylo finally let go of Hux who was radiating anger off of him.  
  
"How _dare_ you take control of me like that!" Hux snapped. "I was pushing her to the dark side! You ruined that."  
  
"You were being harsh. She isn't ready yet," Kylo watched Rey run from a distance. "I sense it in the force."  
  
In fact, Kylo did not sense it in the force. That was an absolute lie. The truth was, Kylo didn't want Rey to go completely dark side.   
  
Why?  
  
A part of it was because Snoke would value her more than him. The other part was the fact that he felt like she wouldn't survive in the darkness. Much like himself, he had that _little bit_ of light in him that he couldn't exactly get rid of. He feared Rey would have the same issue and felt mixed like he did. He didn't want her to be trapped in the hell of always being unsuccessful at meeting expectations.  
  
Hux glared at Kylo before walking along with his troops. Kylo sadly glared at the darkness that was before him, knowing that Rey was sobbing in there somewhere.


	11. Propagandize

Rey ran all the way back to the First Order, making it back to her room. Her knees crashed onto the white floor tiles as she used the force to slam the metal door shut behind her. The two of her hands, trembling, cold, clammy, feeling like the blood of the woman was on them.

 

She didn't think that this mission would go as far as it had gone. She knew that it was only the tip of the iceberg, and she did _not_ want to see the rest of it.

 

Rey sulked in her room after her large panic attack, crouched down so that her head was between her knees so she wouldn't pass out from hyperventilating.

 

* * *

 

Kylo stood in the center of the village, feeling mixed about the raid. The only thing that illuminated the darkness was the bright burning homes around them. The area reeked of burnt dead corpses, making Kylo's stomach turn.

For once, in all of his raids, this one was the worst to him. He had done crueler things, but seeing Hux forcing Rey to shoot that mother was just terrible.

 

Meanwhile, Hux was ignoring Kylo's presence for abusing his rights and freedom like that. Kylo didn't regret a single thing he did. In fact, Kylo wanted to kill Hux right then and there. For the longest time, Kylo was annoyed by Hux, and vice versa.

Kylo swiftly turned around, trying to do away with the idea and thoughts of the light side. He needed to go back and return his focuses to his grandfather, begging for Darth Vader to show him to the dark side.

 

Kylo walked back alone, feeling the night grow colder. It was strange being alone like this once again. He thought softly of Rey, wondering what she was doing. As he neared the base, he felt her cry out like a wounded animal. Her aura, her force, impaled by the spear known as guilt and fault. Kylo felt it too.

 

Kylo was nearly brought to tears by the intense feeling he had felt for Rey. On top of that, he kept thinking about what he could've done better and how he could've prevented Rey's feelings from being hurt.

Kylo rushed to his room, only a few doors down from Rey's, and enclosed himself.

 

* * *

 

Rey was calm after a few minutes but was still traumatized and horrified. She heard harsh footsteps rush down the hall. By the sound of it, she knew it was Kylo and expected to be scolded for leaving so soon.

 

She braced for it but was surprised instead when she heard him pass her door and go straight to his room. She flinched when she heard his door slam.

 

The scavenger was lonely in her empty room, all while Kylo was right down the hall.

 

An attempt to feel better, she peeked out of her room to see no one in the hall or by her door. Rey went into the bathroom to put ice cold water on her swollen eyes before blowing her nose with toilet paper since that was the only form of paper in her room.

Rey walked down the hall and heard a foreign sound.

 

Kylo quietly sobbed, yet was loud enough to be heard through his door. It was muffled, but Rey felt pitiful. Kylo sensed it and cleared his throat, before saying sternly "Go away."

"Kylo? Can we talk?" Rey questioned sweetly, an attempt to let him trust her.

 

There was a brief moment of silence before Rey heard "No... Not now..."

 

Rey was determined and persistent, hence why she opened the door anyways. She caught a brief glimpse of Kylo kneeling at the end of his bed, crying into the crease in his elbow as he depended on the mattress.

Rey took a step in, until Kylo stuck his hand out at her, throwing her against the wall, the door shutting immediately after.

 

Rey grew furious at the idea that Kylo thought that he was the only one suffering. "This isn't fair!" Rey argued, storming up to the door again. "I have problems too, Kylo. That doesn't mean that we both have to... stuff them inside of us until-"

The door opened slightly to reveal Kylo, his dark curls tousled and his eyes puffy and bloodshot. He stared down at Rey before taking in a brief sniffle.

 

"Humor me. What do you wish to talk about?" Kylo questioned with a sarcastic half-smile. "Do you wish to talk about the flowers outside? Or your friend, FN- Finn. Perhaps the training you have been lacking?"

 

Rey blankly stared at Kylo, finally seeing his true colors and his desperate manner. Rey took a deep breath before simply saying "I just want to talk."

 

Kylo didn't expect that reply. He was more so waiting for her to ask about his father's death, or how he came to the dark side, her flashback, something basic.

 

Kylo had no other choice but to open his door for once. _No one_ ever came into his room. His door had only been knocked on every morning to someone walking him up to get work done.

 

Kylo's room was dark and plain. There obviously weren't any windows since they were underground. He had a queen bed with black blankets, sheets, and pillows. Even the floor was metal and silver, unlike Rey's room which was brighter and more modern. It showed the contrast between the two.

 

Kylo closed the door behind Rey, making sure no one heard their conversation or even knew Rey managed to make it into his room.

 

"You should really make this room more alive and cozy," Rey commented, observing the fullness of the room. She turned around, watching as Kylo shuffled over to his bed and sat at the end of it.

"Why should I?" Kylo asked. "The only thing I do in here is sleep. It's not like I spend all of my time in here."

 

"Well, technically you spend at least eight hours in here a night," Rey approached the bed.

 

Kylo scoffed, watching as Rey sat beside him. "Eight? More like four..."

 

Rey managed to smile a little, staring at the ground as she remembered the village. "That may be me tonight."

 

Kylo glanced over and wanted to see what was in her mind. He didn't want to ruin the moment by invading her privacy, so he just looked away.

 

"Thank you."

 

Kylo's head popped up and looked at Rey again with interest. Rey continued to say "I wasn't ready to kill anybody. I'm... upset that Hux forced me to do that..." Rey choked up, before looking up at the dim light barely illuminating Kylo's room.

Kylo solemnly stared at Rey, not knowing what to do in this sort of situation. Kylo was never really compassionate. Hell, he felt weird by even saying 'Thank you' or 'I love you.'

 

"You know, you're going to have to warm up to it sometime if you want to be a Sith Lord," Kylo told Rey frankly, completely oblivious that she didn't want to be a Sith Lord.

 

Rey sniffled, wiping away her falling tears before trying to force a smile again, acting like something she was not. "Yeah. I know. I was just caught off guard this time." Rey decided to switch the topic onto Kylo. "So why were you crying, if you don't mind me asking?"

 

Kylo felt embarrassed. He took a hard swallow before saying with all seriousness "Your aura overwhelmed me when I had arrived back. It was almost like your emotions transferred to me. It was strong and harsh."

 

Kylo expected Rey to smile or laugh a little, but instead she just quietly said "Oh. Sorry..."

 

Kylo pressed on his sore eyes, moving them around behind his lids. He took a deep breath, wondering what he was going to do with this girl.

 

Rey and Kylo had heard Hux shout down the hall "Has anybody seen that damn girl?!"

 

Rey got up, but Kylo took her wrist. Rey turned back and looked at Kylo. He gently spoke. "Stay for a little while longer. I believe we both need to calm down a little after the events that took place tonight."

 

Rey nodded and sat back down beside Kylo. For at least five minutes more, they discussed their favorite foods and their future training plans.

 

They stopped when there was a harsh banging on Kylo's door, leading to a frustrated Hux shouting "Kylo, open up!"

 

Kylo sighed, before whispering to Rey "Hide under my bed. I'll leave the door open and you can go back to your room until Hux and I find you."

 

Rey quietly laughed and nodded, before easily sliding underneath Kylo's dusty bed.

 

Kylo stood up and approached the door, opening it to find Hux, enraged and exhausted.

 

"Have you seen the girl? Snoke wishes to see her briefly," Hux questioned.

 

"Do you mean Rey? Because I haven't seen her yet either. I'll assist you," Kylo told Hux. Hux didn't protest, so they both left his room.

 

Rey crawled out from under his bed and went straight to her room. She washed her face in the cold water again, and both Kylo and Hux "ran" into her.

 

"See? You just don't look hard," Kylo degraded Hux.

 

Hux rolled his eyes before telling Rey that Snoke wished to see her. She agreed and left her room into Snoke's conference room.

 

She was face to face with the large hologram of Snoke.

 

"So..." he slowly drew out the word. "I heard that you killed only one person. Why is that so? You wish to be apart of the dark side too, correct?" Snoke pestered small Rey.

 

"Yes, but I didn't have the strength. Forgive me," Rey looked down and away from Snoke. Oddly, she felt disappointed in herself for not killing more or even doing more damage.

 

"I'm not angry at you yet," Snoke paused before 'yet'.

 

Rey tilted her head slightly in question. "Yet?"

 

Snoke tapped each of his fingers onto the arm of his chair before leaning down towards Rey. "Let me enter your mind, girl. I shall show you the ways of the darkness."

 

Snoke penetrated Rey's thoughts, making the sensation slow and painful. Rey screamed, trying to force him out. She was sorely unsuccessful. She felt all of her pent up rage rise up again. Her mind became filled with lies and false beliefs.

 

_Is this what Kylo feels too? Why can't I prevent it like I can with him?_

 

Rey collapsed onto the floor in the mix of her brutal screaming. Suddenly, she got a prediction.

 

_It was almost midnight and she was at another village. It was cold and lonely. She saw a father holding his child, and Rey positioned her gun to shoot the father._

 

Snoke pulled away, and Rey's entire demeanor had changed. It was almost as if she had been possessed. Rey's eyes met with Snoke's small squinty ones.

 

"Now you know what you must do, and I assure you, you will be successful at it..." Snoke began to fade out in an echo before his hologram disappeared.

 

Even though all of that happened, Kylo was outside of the room. He heard and saw every single bit of it by looking into Rey's mind.

 

He knew that Snoke was trying to replace him.

 

 **AN: Heyyyy! So I'm taking a week break because I'm done with college but I'm a _little_ behind on story writing. So thanks to everyone who reviewed, but hang on to your seats for a little while longer, because these next few chapters get HEATED. ** 


	12. Off

At the Resistance base, it was late at night and everyone was growing tired of waiting for a response from Rey. Leia was basically falling asleep at the table, resting her chin on her supported hand. Her eyes slowly closing.

 

"Leia?" Poe tapped her shoulder.

 

Her eyes flickered open, gazing her weary brown eyes upon him.

 

"I'm fine," she assured him before he even asked.

 

Poe sighed. "Please. I can take a shift. Go home and get some rest."

 

"Is this an order?" She teased with a slight grin, standing up straight.

 

"No. Just a suggestion from a friend," Poe smiled at her.

 

Leia gave a tired laugh before passing Poe with a gentle pat on the shoulder. Once Leia was out of sight, Poe sat in her place. The room was dark, besides the green and blue holograms illuminating the room. Poe was also exhausted from everything that had happened the past week; Rey and Finn leaving with no word. He had friendly colleagues and acquaintances, but no one compared to Finn and Rey. They were his best friends, alongside BB-8 of course.

 

He silently agreed to himself that if Rey didn't reply in at least one more day, he'd be going there himself.

 

BB-8 loudly rolled over to Poe, making an excited and pleased beeping noise.

 

"I'm gonna take a nap buddy. If Rey starts talking, wake me up. Would ya?"

 

BB-8 gave an affirmed few beeps, letting Poe rest his head on the table.

 

* * *

 

The night went by like a breeze, and Rey hadn't slept that well in a long time. However, Rey wasn't exactly Rey. She was different with everything. Her personality, her style, even the way she spoke.

 

She spoke with a lower voice, making her sound like she was in charge, similar to how Hux sounded at times. Kylo noticed that when he had organized a breakfast with her, and he didn't like her attitude at all.

 

They were both eating, using their table manners.

 

Kylo observed Rey and how she ate flawlessly with her utensils and napkins.

 

"How did you sleep?" Kylo questioned, unsure of how to treat Rey.

 

Rey swallowed the food in her mouth before looking at Kylo. "Really well actually. How about you?"

 

Kylo hesitated, before also replying with "Also well." In reality, he only had an hours worth of sleep before a stormtrooper banged on his door at the wee hours of the morning.

 

"When can we train?" Rey questioned. Kylo hesitated with that too, not sure if he wanted to train her today. Although he knew Snoke would be displeased with him, he wasn't too sure about his padawan.

 

"In an hour or two-"

 

"An hour it is," Rey decided, eating rather rapidly now. Kylo took his time and waited until Rey excused herself from the table, walking almost robotically. Kylo remained alone at the table, looking at the amount of food he still had left. He wasn't all that hungry, so he left his food and went to take a long shower.

 

It was strange seeing the girl so… serious. She was always smiling and cracking jokes, fooling around. Now she seemed focused on something. Snoke had done something to her, but Kylo couldn't figure it out.

 

About an hour and fifteen minutes later, Rey was impatiently waiting outside in the garden. Her arms were crossed as she glared at Kylo approaching her.

 

"Why are you late?" Rey interrogated, her tone harsh.

 

"I took a long shower. My apologies-"

 

"I didn't come here to waste time. I came to learn about the force. Don't disappoint me like this again, Ren."

 

 _"Ren?! Who does she think she is?_ " Kylo thought to himself.

 

Kylo tried to read her mind, only to be shoved out by what felt like Snoke.

 

 _"That explains everything. Snoke has made himself a new puppet to play with..._ "

 

Rey pulled out her saber and began to practice fighting with Kylo, and fought rather aggressively. Both of them moved around, stepping quickly. The dust kicked up behind their heels. It was hot, and the two were growing out of breath.

 

Kylo accidentally singed a loose strap on Rey's outfit, making her furious. She raised her hand, force choking Kylo. Kylo clawed at his throat, incapable of doing anything.

 

"Watch yourself, Ren," Rey threatened. "If I wanted a proper tutor, maybe I should ask Hux since he seems better than you."

 

Kylo was offended and self-conscious. Was he truly that bad? Was Rey favorited by Snoke more than he used to be? Was he going to be thrown away?

 

Rey released him and stormed past him.

 

"Do you want to work in the garden to cool off?" Kylo shouted over his shoulder.

 

"Fuck the garden!" Rey shouted back, disappearing into the base.

 

Kylo sighed, closing his eyes tightly before pinching the bridge of his nose. What would he do now?

 

* * *

 

Rey stepped down the hall and into Snoke's room. He appeared before her, looking down at her.

 

"How was training?" Snoke asked.

 

"Awful," Rey bluntly told him. "But I feel prepared for tonight."

 

"Good…" Snoke prolonged the word.

 

Rey gave him a bright smile as he disappeared. Once Snoke was gone, she went into the courtroom to get a snack. Once Rey had eaten a bit of bread, she went into her room to take a brief cold shower before practicing her force skills alone, in her room.

 

The entire day had gone by like a breeze before it was already night time. She was ready to go on her adventure.

 

Rey mindlessly left the base and began walking in a direction she felt like she _had_ to go. After about thirty minutes, she arrived at a village. She hid behind a shit shack of a home and held out her blaster, pointing her blaster at a father holding his newborn baby with love and care.

 

Rey cocked her blaster with the safety off and pointed at him. She closed one eye to focus on his forehead.

 

The blaster was pulled out of her hand and floated over to Kylo, who had secretly been tracking her all the way there.

 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kylo raised his voice at Rey, taking her by the shoulders before slapping her across her face. "Snap out of it!"

 

Kylo focused and dug deep into her mind, staring intensely at Rey's eyes.

 

* * *

_He felt himself inside her brain, feeling the smoke surround him. He kept walking and walking until he saw a light. Rey was curled up on the floor, rocking back and forth as she grasped her head. She was breathing heavily with quiet sobs._

_Kylo lifted her limp body up and over his shoulder before walking away from the smoke. Once her mind was cleared, he set her down again._

* * *

Kylo came back to reality, where Rey was staring at him with tears in her eyes.

 

"H-Help me, Kylo," Rey began to sob. Kylo wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a desperate hug. Rey hugged him right back, crying loudly into his chest. Kylo began to tear up from her strong emotions. To avoid the feeling, he looked up at the night sky. Rey appreciated his compassion, knowing that Kylo was almost at the same level as her. That was good enough considering their circumstance.

 

"We don't belong here, Kylo," Rey cried out to him. "This is… it's torture!"

 

Kylo partially agreed with her, but he didn't know what to do. He was afraid Snoke would control him. He was afraid that the First Order would attack him, or Rey for that matter.

 

Kylo held her head close as she sniffled and tried to breathe between her sobs.

 

"What is the plan?" Kylo whispered in her ear.

Rey looked up to Kylo, surprised that he had finally agreed to go home. Rey took his gloved hand before running back to the base with him.

 

 


	13. Elude

_ Running. _

 

Rey held Kylo's hand as they ran back to the base. Rey had no thoughts of the hand holding besides the fact that she wanted to make sure Kylo was with her. It's not that she didn't trust him, but more so the fact that she didn't want to be alone in her escape. She didn't have the heart to return back to Leia empty handed. It would've been useless to come all this way, go through what she had, and go back with nothing. 

 

Meanwhile, Kylo clutched Rey's hand a little bit tighter as they both ran. It was a matter of time before Snoke would get wind of their thoughts, especially Rey's. Kylo continuously glanced at Rey, her face still wet with tears. She seemed scared, which she had a right to be. Kylo was too.

 

The two of them were kicking up dust and dirt as they booked it, leaving the random village far behind them. The air was harsh and windy, making it difficult to see as the dirt started up. Both of them had the same idea.

 

" _ At least they were doing this together. _ "

 

Once they approached the First Order base, they stopped in front of the elevator.

 

"Do you think they caught on?" Rey breathlessly questioned, looking at Kylo, also painfully panting.

 

Kylo shook his head no, unable to breathe, bending slightly to hold his knees. The village was probably a half a mile run. Rey was used to running and being active, but Kylo had always watched people do his dirty work for him.

 

Rey had called the elevator and let Kylo catch his breath. "Stand straight," Rey ordered. "It will make it easier to breathe."

 

Kylo did what she suggested and began to feel slightly better after a few seconds. The elevator had finally reached the top. They both stepped in and watched the glass doors close shut.

 

"We need a plan," Kylo looked over to Rey. "It won't be easy leaving once Snoke knows of our doings."

 

Rey closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She needed to think; mostly meditate. However, under the circumstances that would be difficult. 

 

"Okay. We quickly grab our items. That should take five minutes at the most. Don't pack too much or else it will weigh us down. Then we grab Finn-"

 

"We're seriously taking him?!" Kylo raised his voice.

 

Rey gave him a look that he couldn't resist. She was tired, scared, and honestly didn't need his protesting right now. Kylo read her mind, and let out a sharp breath, giving in.

 

"Fine. Then what?" He sourly asked.

 

"I came here in a ship. I'd just have to track my previous footsteps and-"

 

"That's idiotic! There's a storm starting out there! Even then, your footprints would have disappeared since you've been here a week," Kylo argued with her.

 

"Okay, then I'll try to remember where I went. I have an idea," Rey told him. 

 

The elevator hit the first floor, and Kylo took Rey aside. "We're going off of an ‘idea’?" Kylo motioned the quotations, sneering as he spoke harshly.

 

Rey stared into Kylo's dark eyes confidently before retaliating. "What would you rather have? Snoke find out and kill us first, or have us get a head start at running?" 

 

The two held eye contact for a strong few seconds before Kylo gave in. "Fine. Let us not waste time with all of this discussion. Let's make haste."

 

As Kylo almost walked away, Rey grabbed his arm. "Hey. Let's agree to work together telepathically in case we need to talk and we aren't together," Rey suggested.

 

Kylo nodded, staring at her grip. She immediately let go and watched Kylo walk away. 

 

Rey smiled to herself before thinking " _ I won _ ."

 

" _ No you didn't _ ," Kylo replied in her mind.

 

" _ I totally did _ ," she responded. She heard Kylo scoff down the hall. Rey realized she was wasting her time gloating instead of rushing. She dashed down the hall after Kylo, running to her room.

 

* * *

 

**FIFTEEN MINUTES PRIOR**

 

Snoke watched in his mind as he controlled Rey like a puppet. She shakily pointed her pistol at the man holding his child.

 

"Do it child! Take the first step into the dark side," Snoke hissed with delight. He was nearly on the edge of his seat, trying to make her pull the trigger. It was difficult, but he pushed on.

 

Snoke watched as Kylo took the gun, hovering it over to him.

 

" **_NO!_ ** " Snoke boomed, his voice echoing in the room, slamming his fist down on the arm of his chair.

 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Snap out of it!" Snoke heard Kylo shout, before trying to push Snoke out.

 

It was a difficult fight, pushing against the forces.

 

"Please," Snoke heard Rey sob in his mind, almost as if he was keeping her in a cage. The cage had disappeared once Kylo neared it. Rey was crying and violently shaking on the floor. Snoke couldn't control Kylo picking her up and taking her sanity away from his clutch.

 

Snoke shouted in anger, the noise bouncing off the walls before disappearing. The Supreme Leader had never gotten this agitated before and knew he would make rash decisions if he was angry. He gave himself five minutes to meditate and calm down, taking deep breaths and reaching his inner self. Once he felt himself, he called Hux to join him.

 

After five minutes, Hux finally approached the cold dark room. He stood up and looked at Snoke.

 

"General Hux… have you noticed anything strange about Kylo Ren?" Snoke questioned.

 

"Why yes. He nearly killed me last night by force choking me!" Hux exaggerated greatly. "I was trying to force the girl into the darkness but was unsuccessful, unfortunately. I feel like if I had her shoot two or three more peasants, she would grow used to the sensation. However, Ren stopped me and let her flee back here," Hux described to the Supreme Leader sourly.

 

Snoke stared down at the red haired man with disappointment. "You stand before me, tattling on Ren when he inconveniences you and you don't even bother to tell me the second he began acting suspiciously? Do you know what this means?!" Snoke raised his gritty voice.

 

Hux replied to Snoke by fearfully saying "T-To be fair, my leader, you never asked yesterday and-"

 

Snoke began choking Hux, much worse than Kylo Ren had done previously. Hux's eyes widened, revealing the whites of his eyes. Snoke released him, letting him fall to the floor.

 

"Forgive me…" Hux heaved, forcing himself to speak.

 

Snoke leaned down to the general. "Redeem your worth, General. Kylo and the scavenger have too much light in them and need to be exterminated. Find them. Do what you do best."

 

Hux nodded, fighting for air as Snoke faded out. After a few extra minutes, Hux was on his feet and ready to find the two annoyances. He knew exactly where they would go.

 

* * *

 

**CURRENT TIME**

 

Rey hurriedly packed her items into a khaki bag Kylo had given her. It was the only thing that he found lying in one of the storage rooms along with another bag for himself. Rey took some suits from the closet and tossed them in, thinking she could utilize them as clothing or rags. Rey also added a pillow and some books that seemed interesting. 

 

In the other room, Kylo was desperately grabbing everything he had. His pillow for the long travels to come, books, antiques, and even his hygienic items.

 

He paused in front of the mask. Darth Vader's mask. He contemplated taking it with him. If you had asked Kylo a week ago "If you had to leave in an emergency, what would you take first?" He would reply with "The mask."

 

He couldn't even decide in time. Stormtroopers flooded into his room, beating Kylo down to the ground as he tried to fight them back with the force. 

 

One of the stormtroopers kicked his face, causing him to fall backward with a bloody nose.

 

"That's for choking me that one time!" The trooper laughed at him.

 

Rey heard the commotion down the hall before hearing in her mind 

 

" _ Help me. _ "

 

Rey took her saber out and immediately ran into a stormtrooper, before using the saber on him. Rey rushed over to Kylo's room and pushed every single one of the stormtroopers to the wall, holding them all there. Kylo quickly gathered himself, brushing the dirt off of his dark clothing.

 

Kylo looked at Rey, about to thank her before he realized that she was struggling.

 

"Hurry Kylo!" She shouted, pained by the weight of the force.

 

Kylo grabbed his bag and took Rey's, before waving his hand in front of all the stormtroopers. Each of them passed out, and Rey let go.

 

"Let's go find your friend," Kylo told Rey with a slight smile. Rey smiled back, noticing small changes in Kylo. She felt confident that she could call him Ben soon enough.

 

The two fugitives ran down the hall, shooting at stormtroopers and combining both of their forces to blow them out of the way.

 

Once they approached the door Finn supposedly was in, Kylo turned to Rey.

 

"You grab him while I bring the bags to the elevator," Kylo rapidly spoke, before running down the hall. Rey watched Kylo turn a corner, hoping he would be alright without her. She saw a stormtrooper soar in the air from the way Kylo went, hitting the wall in the hallway. 

 

"He'll be fine," Rey assured herself out loud, nodding quickly with wide panicked eyes.

 

Rey opened to door and quietly gasped when she saw Finn's appearance. He was burned in some areas, had a swollen eye, a bloody face, and some nails pulled off his fingers.

 

"Finn!" Rey cried out, running up to him. She hurriedly looked at each cuff for a button or at least something to release him from the hellish prison.

 

"I… it's a trap…" Finn forced out, looking at Rey with tears arising. Rey turned to see a bloody Hux. His hands had blood, his white apron had blood, and he had a blood splatter on his cheek. Hux knocked the saber out of Rey's hand. Once Rey pulled out her gun, her safety was on.

 

Stupid!

 

Hux took her gun out of her hand, like stealing candy from a child. 

 

"You need a lesson about respect," Hux snarled, stepping towards Rey quickly.

 

They fought, but it was mostly Rey desperately trying to dodge Hux's swipes at her with the incredibly sharp blade. Rey tried blowing him away with the force, but it seemed that Snoke was shielding Hux. Finally, Rey shielded herself and was sliced in the arm. It wasn't a vital area thankfully, however, she was bleeding a decent amount by the time she kicked the scalpel out of Hux's hand.

 

Finn weakly tried to watch, but his head kept falling down. He was so exhausted from those long three days. He wanted to go home. He wanted to confess everything to Rey. 

 

Finn wanted a do-over.

 

Hux pulled out his gun and pointed it at Rey's head.

 

"See you in hell," Hux taunted, pulling the trigger.

 

Rey screamed, closing her eyes.

 

She felt immense heat on her forehead. She peeked her eye open to see the red laser beam stuck in mid air. It was almost touching her forehead.

 

She looked over to see Kylo storm into the room, fists clenched. Hux stepped backward, tripping over Rey's saber. 

 

"K-K-Kylo wait now," Hux's voice trembled, his entire body shook as he crawled backward.

 

Rey stepped away from the beam and tried to help Finn as Hux and Kylo had their little dispute.

 

"It's okay Finn. We're getting out of here," Rey heavily breathed, cupping her hands around his moist cheeks. Finn was basically dripping sweat from all the pain and blood loss.

 

Kylo took a deep breath and leaned down to Hux.

 

"I'm tricking the girl you fool," Kylo whispered to Hux. Hux looked incredibly relieved, allowing his muscles to relax and his body to stop shivering in fear of death. Kylo helped Hux stand up. 

 

The General confidently stood, approaching Rey. Rey noticed him from the corner of her eye and took a step back.

 

"Hey, Hux."

 

Hux turned around to Kylo, listening carefully since he owed Kylo his life.

 

"Yes, Ren?" Hux replied innocently.

 

Kylo clenched his fist while maintaining a calm face, before saying "Fuck you."

 

Kylo pulled back his fist and sucker punched Hux square in the face. Kylo grabbed the General’s collar before decking him two more times to make sure he was out cold.

 

Suddenly, Kylo wielded his lightsaber, the red nearly touching Hux's face. Kylo held it up, about to swing. All of the pent up rage he had towards Hux was all about to go away.

 

"WAIT!" Rey shouted, eyes wide in a panic. Kylo paused, looking at Rey for her input.

 

"Why shouldn't I kill this bastard?" Kylo gritted his teeth.

 

"We aren't like this anymore. Not anymore. No more deaths," Rey pleaded with Kylo. "Consider this your first step."

 

Kylo looked at the General's lifeless face, even though he was still breathing. Kylo sheathed his saber, before taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

 

Kylo hovered his palm over Hux, who was sprawled out on the floor. The keys to the cuffs peeked out of his pocket and ascended into Kylo's hand. 

 

Rey watched as Kylo approached her with the key. “I know you may not agree, but we should hold Hux as a prisoner. I think your mother would appreciate it,” Rey suggested.

 

Kylo looked over at Hux, fondly thinking of his mother. He never really thought about returning to her. He felt like she wouldn’t forgive him after all he had done. She must hate his guts at this point. 

 

“Yeah… Good idea…”

 

He dropped the keys into Rey’s palm. She rushed over to Finn, now making him her number one priority.

 

Finn fell on top of her, partially on purpose.

 

"Maker! You don't look as heavy as you are!" Rey struggled to hold him up. 

 

"I can take him," Kylo sighed, annoyed that he even had to offer.

 

Rey passed Finn over to Kylo.

 

"They… they shot my leg when I got here. I can't walk, but I still have my other leg," Finn forced himself to say.

 

"Then use it. We have a long way to go from here," Rey encouraged Finn. Rey then looked up to Kylo before saying "Thank you."

 

Kylo gave a firm nod, before rushing out of the doors with Rey.

 

Kylo ended up throwing Hux over his shoulder as he threw Finn’s arm around him. Holding Hux was more of a challenge than holding Rey since she was thinner and shorter.

 

While Kylo was the offense, Rey was the defense. She shot through countless stormtroopers and threw bodies everywhere all the way to the end. They got into the elevator, which held their bags. Rey hurriedly hit the button as beams flew past all of them. The door shut, finally allowing them to relax. Rey slid down the wall of the elevator as it began to rise.

 

Kylo set Hux and Finn down, allowing them to regain their strength.

 

"You got your blood all over me," Kylo told Finn with disgust.

 

Finn glared at Kylo before saying "My bad. I'll try and hold it in next time."

 

The elevator grew hot from all of them panting like dogs on a warm summer day. To Rey, the boys smelled like dogs too. Rey took the clothing she grabbed earlier and tore some fabric off of it. She took Hux’s hands and tied them together behind his back, also stuffing his mouth. Hux began to awake, but Kylo immediately wavered his hand over his eyes. Hux was passed out again. However, Hux would be asleep until Kylo decided to wake him.

 

Suddenly, the elevator stopped. All three of them looked at each other with worry and fear across their faces. Then, in a second they could not see. The lights turned off.

 

"Damn!" Kylo scolded. "They turned off the power for the elevator."

 

Kylo lit up his saber to look around. Rey did the same before the two silently decided that touching sabers would be a magnificent idea.

 

They clashed together, illuminating the elevator.

 

"Yay… teamwork," Finn said rather dully. 

 

Kylo reached his saber to the top of the elevator before seeing a vent.

 

"How will we get up there?" Rey questioned, looking at Kylo. She thought Kylo would have to jump up there somehow and pull the two of them up. However, Kylo had another idea.

 

Kylo used his saber to cut open the vent, letting it fall in the middle of the floor. He then knelt down on one knee.

 

"Climb on my back," Kylo ordered.

 

"What?!" Rey gasped in confusion.

 

"Just-… Trust me. Okay?" Kylo looked up at Rey, the red glow illuminated his serious face.

 

Rey nodded before she put away her saber. She climbed on Kylo's back and he lifted her up, banging her head on the roof.

 

"Ow!"

 

"Sorry."

 

"Idiot," Finn muttered under his breath.

 

Finn was truly annoying Kylo, just as much as Kylo annoyed Finn. Both of them decided to not start anything, for the sake of Rey.

 

Once Rey crawled onto the roof of the elevator, she could see the surface, which wasn't far at all.

 

"Hey! We're close!" Rey excitedly told them.

 

Kylo looked down at Finn before holding out his hand. Finn wouldn't have taken it if he wasn't so badly injured. Once Finn climbed Kylo's back, Kylo boosted Finn up to the roof of the elevator. Rey pulled him up, and then helped Kylo up with Hux.

 

They all did the same thing to reach the surface.

 

The wind was blowing, tossing around the fabrics on Rey and Kylo's clothing since they both wore messy robes. The dirt was kicking up in the air, making it hard to breathe. The dark sky was no help either.

 

"Follow me," Rey spoke over the loud winds. Kylo put Finn's arm around his waist and then threw Hux over his shoulder once again. It was difficult dragging Finn along with the weight of Hux slowing Kylo down. At least Rey was holding the bags.

 

They walked for at least ten minutes until Rey realized she had no idea where she was going. It took twenty minutes for her to start breaking down. Rey collapsed onto the ground, covering her face in tears.

 

"What's wrong?" Kylo took her shoulder. Finn gave a concerned expression as well.

 

Rey sniffled before crying "I-I don't know where the ship is. I got us lost and they're going to kill us!"

 

"Hey! That won't happen," Kylo nudged Rey's shoulder. "You've helped so much already. The least I owe you is my life."

 

As the skies grew darker, and the wind became more ferocious, a pair of lights came from the sky and through the clouds. Rey, Kylo, and Finn were blinded from the light.

  
"The First Order found us!" Rey shouted, scurrying to her feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I won't be on for 2 weeks since I'll be going to Canada. So sorry for the cliff hanger!


	14. Reunion

As the medium sized aircraft started to settle down on the ground, kicking up dirt and debris, Kylo took Rey by her good arm and forced her to stand behind him. Finn stared at the aircraft in fear squinting from the bright lights aimed at him. A door opened and a silhouette stepped towards them. Rey and Kylo readied their sabers.   
  
"Woah-woah-woah!"   
  
Rey took Kylo's arm that held his saber, before aiming it down. Finn narrowed his eyes at the man, before quietly gasping to himself.   
  
"Poe?!" Rey exclaimed, taking a step in front of Kylo.   
  
Poe Dameron appeared from the shadows, in front of the lights on the aircraft. "In the flesh," Poe smiled at her, before noticing Finn's condition. "Let's get us all out of here, huh?"    
  
Poe waved them towards the ship, helping them all get on. Suddenly, a beam shot past Poe's head, catching everyone's attention. A whole mob of Stormtroopers approached the ship, shooting their blasters at them.   
  
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Poe shouted, hopping on the ship, waiting for everyone to board before he closed the door. He got in his seat and started taking off, shooting at the troopers. One of the beams managed to go through the windshield and fly past Rey's ear.    
  
Rey turned to see Kylo leaned up against the wall, clutching his shoulder in pain.   
  
"Kylo!" Rey shouted

 

Kylo had been shot.   
  
"I need someone to patch that hole before we take off! NOW!" Poe shouted. Rey was the only person able to do that, so she rushed over and patched up the window, making sure that no air could go in or out.   
  
Poe managed to take off at light speed. They all managed to escape the horrors of Dantooine.   
  
The ship they were in was awfully spacious. Then again, Poe made sure that there would be enough room for at least Finn and Rey. There was the complicated piloting area, followed by a long couch-like seat by the left window, and a bed by the right window.    
  
Once everything was mellowed out and calm, Poe set the ship on autopilot and approached everyone.   
  
"Okay. So explain what everyone's situation is," Poe asked Rey.    
  
Rey looked over at Finn, who was lying on the floor. "He got tortured by him." Rey pointed at Hux, across the way who was tied up and passed out still.    
  
Poe walked over to Kylo, who was still against the wall.   
  
"You alright, pal?" Poe questioned Kylo.    
  
"How much blood is coming out?" Rey questioned, before gently turning Kylo around. Blood was not coming out from his back.   
  
"That's good at least. We just have to patch one side then," Poe told Rey. Rey nodded, still worried about both Finn and Kylo nonetheless.   
  
Rey turned to Poe with a concerned expression. "Can you treat Finn while I treat Kylo?" Rey asked.   
  
Poe hesitated for a moment, debating on whether he should speed up flying or if he should try and fix Finn himself.    
  
"Sure," Poe nodded in agreement with a forced smile.   
  
Rey brought Kylo over to a seat and helped him relax a little bit. Meanwhile, Poe was with Finn.   
  
"Hey, Buddy," Poe tried to get on Finn's good side again.   
  
Finn just laughed a little bit. He was able to tell that Poe was trying to be as nice as possible. "Don't worry. I'm not that mad anymore. After the shit I've been through? Please. That's the last thing on my mind."   
  
Poe laughed a little bit, mostly from relief. "I'm just glad you survived. What the hell happened in there anyways?" Poe questioned with interest as he pulled out a first aid kit from under Finn's bed.   
  
Before Finn said a word, he was cut off by Rey.   
  
"Do you have any first aid kits?" Rey questioned from across the way. Poe tossed her the one that he grabbed and took out another.   
  
"As you were saying?" Poe allowed Finn to continue.   
  
Finn grinned with confidence before saying "So I broke in there, blasters blazing. Right? They had no chance against me…"   
  
Meanwhile, Kylo had his robe taken off, revealing his bare chest. He still had his pants and shoes on of course.    
  
Rey gently dabbed Kylo's shoulder with a damp rag, finally able to relax for once. At this point, Kylo was exhausted. He had technically been up for almost two days, but only had an hours worth of sleep. Rey noticed his eyelids slowly falling down, but jolting awake from the pain.   
  
"I'm really glad you decided to go back with me," Rey said to Kylo, whose eyes opened a little more to look at her.   
  
"I don't know how I particularly feel about it," Kylo admitted. "It feels strange not having someone over my shoulder all the time. At the same time, it feels _so_  good to be free. It's all thanks to you," Kylo groggily told Rey.   
  
Considering that Kylo doesn’t compliment people as much as he should, Rey smiled a little with gratefulness.    
  
Kylo continued to say "I'm just glad that we're working against the dark side together. I know it must be hard for you since the whole reason you came was to practice with me."   
  
Rey took a deep breath, focusing on her lie before believing it. "Yeah. It truly is difficult."   
  
Once Rey had patched up Kylo's shoulder, Kylo took the first-aid kit and took Rey's arm.   
  
Neither of them said anything as Kylo patched up Rey in return. It wasn't _as_ ~ time consuming as the laser wound in Kylo's shoulder, or Finn's multiple wounds for that matter.   
  
Rey was sitting next to Kylo when she was moving around the bandage wrap in mid-air with the force.    
  
"What do you think about-"   
  
Kylo's body fell onto Rey's shoulder. Kylo was sound asleep in a matter of seconds.    
  
"I perhaps it is awfully late," Rey mumbled to herself, before closing her eyes, dropping the bandages.   
  
Once Finn told his entertaining tale of events, Poe told him to rest. Poe found himself in a room full of sleeping people.   
  
"Don't worry guys! I got it," Poe threw up his hands, before turning off the lights inside the ship. He walked over and started piloting the ship, making the trip a little bit faster.   


 

* * *

  
Kylo slowly started to awake when he heard a haunting voice come from the telecom.    
  
"Poe? Poe? Where the hell are you?"   
  
Rey awoke to the sound of Leia's voice too. Kylo immediately stood straight, realizing that he was leaning on Rey.    
  
Poe answered the call.   
  
"I'm returning with everyone, and then some," Poe replied with a cocky grin.   
  
" _Everyone_?" Leia spoke with shock.   
  
Kylo's stomach swirled as fear had stricken him. What would his mom do to him? After his father's death? After the murder of all of those innocent people?   
  
"Yeah. Hang tight. We're only a few minutes away," Poe assured, before looking over his shoulder to Kylo. "Hear that buddy? She sounds excited," Poe smiled.   
  
"Really?" Kylo questioned, completely stunned by the thought.   
  
"Of course! She's been going through hell and back to get you," Poe assured him, returning to flying.   
  
Rey got worried for a second. She was afraid that Poe was going to tell Kylo that the _real_  reason she went to Dantooine was to bring him back. Not to learn from the dark side.   
  
She didn't know how or when to tell Kylo, but now certainly wasn't the time. Not until he's settled in and planted his roots.

 

* * *

  
After a short ten minutes, Poe pulled into the Resistance base and landed, where a whole group of people was awaiting their arrival.   
  
Kylo had his robe back on already, and Hux was still passed out. He was bound to wake up any second, so Poe kept a close eye on him.   
  
The ship's door opened, and Rey and Finn stepped out of the ship first. A stretcher was ready for Finn, and the medics stole Finn away from Rey within a matter of seconds. Rey turned to find Kylo march down the ramp, as Poe followed, dragging Hux along.   
  
Everyone began cheering and clapping, and Kylo seemed surprised. He certainly didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic about his arrival.   
  
In that moment, he saw _her_.   
  
Leia came through the crowd and made immediate eye contact with Kylo. To both of them, it felt like everyone surrounding them were gone.   
  
Kylo's throat tightened, every one of his muscles tense, and his heart rate beating rapidly,   
  
Leia slowly walked up to Kylo before wrapping her arms around them.    
  
He heard her quietly say. "It's okay now, Ben."   
  
Ben started to tear up and held his mother closely before crying in front of everyone.   
  
"I'm so sorry, mother," Ben hid his face in the crease between her neck and her shoulder. He was hunched over since his mother was much shorter than him.   
  
"Your apology is accepted by everyone, and myself. I'm just glad you came back," Leia told him, trying to make him feel welcome among the Resistance.   
  
Rey watched the mother and son reunion, wishing she had the same luxury. Unfortunately, she was left with nobody.    
  
Nonetheless, she was glad she could give someone else the feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks for patiently waiting everyone! Sorry, I was so late to posting. I missed my flight back home so I had to fly back the next day (yesterday) and then I had open house tonight, and it looks like I will have an even busier year. Overall, it means that posting will be very slow, unfortunately. Probably not 2 weeks slow, but maybe a few days apart kinda slow. I'm so thankful that you guys are enthusiastic about my story and are able to hold on while I try and sort out my hectic life.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading and all of your lovely support! It means so much to have amazing readers like you!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read my work! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Reviews help write the next chapter :>


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